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This release was pivotal in a media-relations campaign that produced coverage by The Plain Dealer, the News-Herald, two local TV stations, Metropolis (an international magazine of design), Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, and more.

From Futuristic to Historic: ASM International's HQ, creatively reborn

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Now on the National Register: ASM International's world headquarters near Cleveland.

SUMMARY: The materials-information society lands its space-age home on the National Register of Historic Places, then parlays that distinction into creative renovation financing. Its success could be a model for other aging American Modern buildings of the mid-20th century. 

RUSSELL TOWNSHIP, Ohio, July 26, 2011 – A geodesic-domed gem of American Modern architecture near Cleveland is proudly proving that the great buildings of the nation’s mid-20th century can be futuristic and historic at the same time.

The headquarters of ASM International, a global advanced-materials professional association, is stunningly space-aged: 50,000 square feet of sleek steel-and-glass office space in a sweeping semicircular arc, spanned by a soaring, 10-story-tall dome of aluminum tubing designed by Modernist icon Buckminster Fuller.

Yet the 52-year-old complex, called Materials Park, is also on the National Register of Historic Places. That distinction enabled some creative financing for a $6 million, 18-month renovation. Now reaching completion, the overhaul ensures the complex will retain its dynamism and visionary relevance through its second half-century of life, says ASM Managing Director Stanley Theobald.

“We’re so proud to be the stewards of this remarkable complex,” said Theobald. “It epitomizes the optimistic vision of one of America’s greatest eras – and yet it is as beautiful, functional and inspiring today as it was the day it opened in 1959.”

ASM will officially unveil the results to about 250 dignitaries and other guests at a rededication gala on Saturday, Aug. 6.

The party underscores Materials Park’s stature as a model that illustrates what is possible for other aging, midcentury Modernist landmarks. Cleveland preservationist consultant Michael Chesler, president of The Chesler Group, shepherded Materials Park onto the National Register, then parlayed the listing into $2.4 million in state and federal historic-preservation tax credits. That financing vehicle was the crux of the structures’ renaissance, said ASM spokesman Joseph Zion. 

Many contemporaries from the heyday of American Modernism in the 1950s and '60s could pursue a similar path in a quest for restoring the patina they’re gradually losing in middle age, Chesler predicted.

The tradeoff is some red tape: The National Parks Service, which administers the National Register and its requirements, insists that renovated buildings retain their original architectural character and critical original materials. So Materials Park could re-seal its drafty envelope of single-pane glass, but couldn’t replace those panes with state-of-the-art, energy-efficient multi-pane windows. On the other hand, the requirements inspired glorious restorations of details including “floating” stainless-steel staircases suspended from the ceiling on glimmering rods, and textured-copper walls long hidden behind regrettable wallcoverings, Zion said.

The original “green” roof covering several thousand square feet of the office building – believed to be the first green roof in Ohio – is also being restored.

The dome, whose 65,000 pieces stretch across a 274-foot diameter, is the largest open-work geodesic dome in the world. It remains in stellar shap, and it needed no restoration, Chesler said.

An unexpected bonus in the restoration process was the rediscovery of seven brushed-metal murals by innovative midcentury master Nikos Bel-Jon. Those works, lovingly revived and shielded behind museum-quality glass, now grace ASM’s interior walls.

The lushly landscaped grounds, and a “mineral garden” with ores and earthen samples representing 66 different materials used in Materials Park’s construction, are open to the public. The building itself is not, except that meeting rooms are available for conferences and special rental, Zion said.

ASM is the 36,000-member professional society serving materials science and engineering. ASM provides authoritative information and knowledge on materials and processes, from the structural to the nanoscale. Members share information and ideas through international conferences and expositions, seminars and local chapter meetings, through publications such as Advanced Materials & Processes and the renowned ASM Handbook series, and online through the ASM Community website.

Members apply their information and knowledge to improve quality of life in a million different ways, large and small -- from today’s aircraft, cars and microelectronics to making tomorrow’s hydrogen economy possible.

ASM members’ interests include nanotechnology; green or environmentally benign manufacturing; materials for medical devices; materials for the hydrogen economy (fuel cells and hydrogen storage, production and distribution); materials for homeland security; advanced materials for aerospace, automotive, power generation and other industries; and shape memory and superelastic technology.

About ASM International

ASM International serves materials professionals, nontechnical personnel, and managers worldwide by providing high-quality materials information, education and training, networking opportunities, and professional development resources in cost-effective and user-friendly formats. ASM is where materials users, producers, and manufacturers converge to do business.

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