{"id":687,"date":"2006-01-27T18:48:52","date_gmt":"2006-01-27T18:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/?p=687"},"modified":"2025-09-05T14:22:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:22:42","slug":"u-s-xpress-chattanooga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/u-s-xpress-chattanooga\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Xpress, Chattanooga"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Alucobond,<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Project Name:<\/th>\nU.S. Xpress<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Project Location:<\/th>\nChattanooga, Tennessee<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS Materials:<\/th>\n70,000 sq. ft. of 4mm Custom Charcoal Gray<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Year of Installation:<\/th>\n2006<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Architect:<\/th>\nSSOE, Inc.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fabricator:<\/th>\nJohn W. McDougall Co., Nashville<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Attachment Method:<\/th>\nRout and Return Wet Seal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Design Vision Continues at U.S. Xpress<\/p>\n

In the mid-90\u2019s, U.S. Xpress of Chattanooga, Tennessee and SSOE, Inc., architects and engineers, spent three days developing a vision for a new U.S. Xpress headquarters building, which was completed before the end of the decade. That vision allowed for expansion, now realized with the spring 2006 completion of an adjacent corporate campus and the first of four \u201ccompanion\u201d buildings.<\/p>\n

U.S. Xpress is a very creative and forward thinking organization. As such, they wanted a headquarters building that would express these attributes. \u201cWe studied the look that we wanted to achieve and many different materials. In the end, we decided that ALUCOBOND\u00ae was the best material for the job,\u201d said David S. Verner, AIA, Vice President of SSOE, who served as project architect and manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe client wanted a statement about U.S. Xpress that would convey to the world in physical form the goals and aspirations of the organization,\u201d Verner added. \u201cThat initial concept involved transformation and movement. Other touchstones included transition, flow, evolution and growth. U.S. Xpress has led the evolution of trucking into a technologically sophisticated business, and these buildings include very advanced communications and accounting systems.<\/p>\n

The ALUCOBOND\u00ae Material helped to provide that \u2018high-tech\u2019 image. We took a standard color and increased the metallic flake and gloss of the color as high as possible to enhance reflectivity.<\/p>\n

\"Alucobond,<\/a><\/p>\n

This caused the building\u2019s appearance to fluidly transform over the course of the day from soft grays to greens to blues to bright silver. We started with a metallic slate color that became a custom charcoal gray\u2014custom for U.S. Xpress.\u201d The headquarters building utilized approximately 70,000 sq. ft. of 4mm ALUCOBOND\u00ae Material, attached with a rout and return wet seal method. SSOE\u2019s work included programming, concept design, construction documents, and construction administration.<\/p>\n

For the headquarters building, the ALUCOBOND\u00ae Material was part of a three-story, cantilevered triangular form, designed to maximize the potential of an L-shaped lot. A rusticated concrete base anchors the building to the site. The building was designed without a designated front or rear, and each side reveals a different look. The axis through the structure culminates at the board room balcony. Inside, a free-floating staircase 60-ft. tall is clad in ALUCOBOND\u00ae Material, with a stainless steel handrail. The recently-completed companion building also utilizes matching ALUCOBOND\u00ae Material in a design by SSOE that is compatible with the headquarters building. \u201cThe intent of the companion building design is to use the same architectural language as the headquarters, yet in a unique and different way. The overall corporate campus is laid out in a radial pattern around a circular center. The first two companion buildings are fan shaped and focused on the center. The buildings use simple rectangular forms to create a dynamic fa\u00e7ade that, like the headquarters, is different at every turn,\u201d added Verner.<\/p>\n

\"Alucobond,<\/a><\/p>\n

Material was fabricated and installed by the John W. McDougall Company of Nashville. For the companion building, approximately 40,000 sq. ft. of ALUCOBOND\u00ae Material in 4mm was utilized with the Series 200 rout and return caulked joint system. The general contractor was EMJ Corporation, based in Chattanooga.<\/p>\n

Two sheets of .02\u201d aluminum thermobonded to a plastic core, ALUCOBOND\u00ae Material frequently is chosen for its light weight, yet its ability to remain rigid and visually flat. The material also fabricates easily for crisp corners and smooth, sweeping curves, resulting in a \u2018high-tech\u2019 appearance. The custom color was coil-coated to the material at the Benton, Kentucky plant of 3A Composites USA Inc., where ALUCOBOND\u00ae Material is domestically manufactured.<\/p>\n

Situated on a hillside near Interstate 75, the U.S. Xpress headquarters corporate campus is highly visible. It communicates its powerful message about transportation progress in an area founded as a rail and river transportation center early in the 19th Century. Chattanooga is a mid-sized city with pride in its own \u201cvision of sustainable growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t