Large-scale warehouse spaces located as far as 25 miles from Port Newark demand high rents. So the site directly at the port, off New Jersey Turnpike’s exit 12, was ideal for a new industrial park with one exception: It was a landfill. Building a 1.2 million-sf warehouse is no easy task, particularly with contaminated soil as the substrate. Supported on recycled oil pipes driven down 70 ft to hit bedrock, the building became a first-of-its-kind pile structure specially designed for a warehouse’s lateral and dynamic loads. The team devised an 80 ft by 80 ft structural grid, setting a new standard in warehouse design. In addition to restoring natural wetlands, iPort 12 mitigated the site’s environmental hazards by properly closing the landfill and incorporating a methane and leachate collection and monitoring system.
iPort 12 has become a bold icon on the turnpike—an unmistakable, yet beautiful, expression of its purpose and character. In daylight, dramatic vertical fins on the building’s west facade cast dynamic shadows on its textured concrete skin. At dusk, glass panes cut vertically into the concrete emanate light from inside out and illuminate a project that has become an environmental and economical success.
