Norwalk manufacturer working to construct ‘one of the greenest buildings in the world’
Against the clatter of power equipment and steel girders in Norwalk, crews frame what is expected to become Connecticut’s “greenest” commercial building. HMTX held a “topping off” ceremony Tuesday as it added the final girders for a new design center at its Norwalk headquarters, equipped to help flooring designers come up with new ideas and fabricate speedy prototypes in advance of big orders. HMTX sells luxury vinyl tile and floor planking, which have become a hot commodity the past decade, in part for allowing designers to recreate the look of far-more-expensive alternatives or even tile designs in historic edifices. The company went on a steep growth trajectory several years ago after landing a supply deal with Home Depot, then kept up with deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic despite disruptions at U.S. ports and factories HMTX has in China. CEO Harlan Stone is counting on the new “house upon the hill,” as he dubs it, to make HMTX nimbler yet. The facility will include some of the most advanced 3D printers in the world to crank out flooring samples in a span of hours. The building will include small apartments for designers to use on any extended visits. “Why did we go ahead to build this big, giant building ... during the COVID pandemic? Why didn’t we just all stay home and do everything on Zoom?” Stone said Tuesday at the Norwalk construction site. “It’s important that people are able to connect so that the creative energy flows . ... I think it’s a classic, post-COVID building.” Light is a big part of the center’s design, with ample windows and solar panels supplying all of its electricity needs during the summer months. Rain gutters will shunt away water into a massive tank for reuse as well. Architect Jason McLennan said on Tuesday that the building is the most significant project he has worked on yet. McLennan is viewed as a guru in the green building industry via the Living Building Challenge he created, which runs a certification program. “This will be ... a landmark for this city as one of the greenest buildings in the world,” McLennan said. “It will feel like you’re in a tree house when you are up there.” Stone said 20 to 40
construction contractors have been on site each day in Norwalk. He said the building’s outer envelope should be complete by the time colder weather arrives, leaving only the interior fit-out in advance of a target grand opening by the start of next summer. “This is a complex project (and) it’s a difficult site, but everybody’s enthusiastic about it,” Stone said. “People come here and they see something that is not a poured (concrete) slab, a regular four-story simple building . ... It makes me feel like there’s energy and creativity in the construction business.” HMTX is squeezing the building onto a small ridge line between the Route 7 Connector to Interstate 95 and Oakwood Avenue, which has a run of residential and commercial buildings overlooking the Merritt 7 commuter rail station of MetroNorth. The company is planting 40 trees to replace those it cleared away for the new building, starting with a yellowwood which now grows alongside the steel girders of the project. Some of the oaks are being milled for surfaces and decorative elements inside the building. HMTX’s general contractor Shawmut is reusing granite from the site as well, as material for exterior retaining walls. While the new Norwalk building will function first and foremost as a commercial design facility, Stone said he is open to the idea of offering it up as a space for charitable functions and events, or holding open houses to kids interested in careers in sustainability, architecture or related fields. Mayor Harry Rilling noted Norwalk knows well the impact of severe weather and climate change. The 2012 Superstorm Sandy destroyed houses in multiple neighborhoods, and four years later the city’s water supplies dropped to crisis levels during a prolonged drought that weakened trees statewide, intensifying damage in later storms including Tropical Storm Isaias last August. “We’re always looking for ways we can reduce our carbon footprint in the city of Norwalk,” Rilling said. “This building is ... a perfect example of what we should be doing.”