Moraine, Ohio – Fuyao Glass America (FGA) held its official Grand Opening recently at its Moraine plant. The celebration was led by Fuyao founder and Chairman Cho Tak Wong and included more than a dozen speakers who have contributed to Fuyao’s success in the U.S.
The event also featured guided tours of the expanding facility and marked the official unveiling of the new 8,700sf showroom, that will provide a gathering space for customers to learn about trends and innovations in glass and the glass industry.
“The showroom has interactive displays that respond to user requests,” said James Dobrozsi, Woolpert architect and engineering project manager. “It’s similar to Fuyao’s showroom in China that shows products the company is working on, such as solar panels on the windows, etc. It’s probably the coolest example of interior architecture in the Dayton area.”
In conjunction with Fuyao’s Chinese design team, the showroom was designed by Woolpert, an architecture, engineering and geospatial firm that has worked with FGA extensive
Recent projects in Moraine have included warehouse additions, a nurses’ station, roadway design and enhancements, and the new North Village Chinese Restaurant, with design provided by Moda4 Design. The restaurant will serve authentic Chinese food and be open to the public this fall.
Woolpert also is planning a mile-long sanitary sewer system at the Moraine plant using directional bore. This method of installing underground pipes along a prescribed path has minimal impact on the surrounding area.
The firm also provided a new office design and roadway design for FGA’s plant in Mount Zion, Ill., which was purchased in 2014 and provides raw glass to the Moraine site. Most recently, Woolpert was contracted by FGA to provide architecture and engineering services to its Plymouth, Mich., plant. That manufacturing site is expected to be operational in 2017.
“Woolpert’s been a great partner and has helped us maximize our efforts and what we can do inside the building footprint,” said Dave Burrows, vice president of FGA. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”
FGA, which purchased 1.4 million square feet of the former General Motors plant in mid-2014, has invested roughly $500 million in the Dayton region and nearly $1 billion in the U.S.
When complete, FGA’s Moraine site will be the world’s largest auto glass producing plant in the world.