CHARLOTTE, N.C., December 20, 2007 – Merriman Schmitt Architects (MSA) has won two national design awards for the American LaFrance North American headquarters and manufacturing facility in Jedburg, S.C., outside Charleston.

The project earned the FIERO Merit Award for Fire Facilities Design from the Fire Industry Equipment Research Organization (FIERO), and design achievement award from the Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA).

The FIERO Award was presented at the organization’s national conference in Charlotte October 25. The TCA award will be presented at that trade group’s annual conference in Las Vegas in January.

The American LaFrance headquarters consists of a 59,000 square foot headquarters office building and a 454,000 square foot manufacturing facility where the company builds fire trucks and other fire apparatus. The project was developed by Johnson Development Corporation of Charleston for American LaFrance and constructed by J.F. Schultze Construction of Charlotte. The building was completed in July at a cost of approximately $24 million.

Merriman Schmitt designed the facility and the interiors, including the Class A office building, with a 10,000 square foot new vehicle showroom and a 10,000 square foot antique fire equipment display space. In the manufacturing building, an additional 20,000 square feet of two office space was also included in the design.

The design is in the vernacular of a turn-of-the-century urban brick firehouse with arched drive-through doorway motifs on the exterior, and a functioning siren tower capping the office building. The lobby and showroom spaces feature brick and wood-paneled walls, a stained concrete floor, and wood interlocking ceiling. A cobblestone floor in the waiting area bridges the space between the two showrooms, and a company store takes on the appearance of a small turn-of-the-century shop.

The new vehicle showroom features walk-down access so visitors can view the underbody of the equipment available. Drive-thru doors for accessing the showrooms are punctuated on the exterior by iron bollards and accented with goose-neck exterior lamps.

The buildings were completed on a fast-track six-month schedule and designed to withstand both hurricane-force wind and water, as well as earthquake tremors. Cast-on-site concrete tilt panels are accented by thin-set brick tiles to give the building a timeless appearance.

The site includes a 1,000-foot test track to allow American LaFrance to test-drive each vehicle before delivery to the customer.

American LaFrance was founded in 1832 as a maker of fire apparatus. It’s earliest products included hand-operated pumpers and horse-drawn steam fire engines. Today, the company builds custom fire apparatus, including fire truck pumpers and tankers, aerials, emergency vehicles and boats, command vehicles and heavy-duty remote-area fire vehicles.

Founded in 1996, Merriman Schmitt Architects, Inc., is based in Charlotte and specializes in the design of Class A office buildings, industrial and distribution facilities, retail shopping centers and mixed-use facilities. Services include architectural design, interior architecture, site master planning, 3D rendering, construction document preparation and construction administration.

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