HF scientific, a Watts brand, needed its new global headquarters to meet specific criteria. It had to be three times the size of its former Fort Myers location, with more warehouse and manufacturing space, and proximity to the airport to serve its large base of international clients conveniently.
The newly constructed building at 16260 Airport Park Drive in Fort Myers checked all the boxes and more for the company that designs, manufactures and distributes water quality monitoring instruments. HF scientific moved into Suite 140 last spring as the first tenant of the nearly 35,000-square-foot property. As such, it had a say in the design elements carried out by architect Tyler S. Petersen of Fort Myers-based PDS Architecture Inc. and contractor Chris Curran of Bonita Springs-based Curran Young Construction.
“They did a great job of incorporating a number of different water motifs into the way of the lighting, tiling and colors, and everything else they used for this new facility,” says Charlie Pasquariello, senior product manager at HF scientific.
LED lights designed as water droplets hang from the wall, illuminating yellow, blue, black and white accents. A portion of the ceiling curves in a wave-like feature, continuing the flowing, liquid feel.
NOT JUST GOING WITH THE FLOW: HF scientific’s new open-concept headquarters with a water motif, bottom left, includes space to experiment.
Design perks include an open-concept training room for large-scale meetings and events, two primary conference rooms, a sprawling breakout room, offices and scrum areas for small huddles. Large cubicles are outfitted with touch screens, adding to the tech-forward environment.
The operational side has much more space to experiment, with wet walls to test instruments, a wet chemistry area for production and two separate research-and-development labs.
The new facility is quite a departure from the former headquarters, wedged between a cow pasture and scrap yard off Old Metro Parkway. That location housed HF scientific since the previous owners moved the company down from Canada to Fort Myers in the early 1980s.
“It wasn’t very high-tech,” Pasquariello says. “This expanded footprint has allowed us to make better use of the space. Not only do we have more space, but it makes us more efficient in terms of what we’re doing on a daily basis.”
With the added elbow room and equipment, HF scientific and its 57 employees are focusing on expanding its offerings and reach. “R&D is a main focus, so we are investing in new applications and new markets, but also expanding our portfolio in the markets we’re currently in,” Pasquariello says. “We are very happy with the facility.”
HF Scientific amenities
Architect: PDS Architecture Inc.
Contractor: Chris Curran of Bonita Springs-based Curran Young Construction
HF Scientific’s primary market: Marine ballast water systems that help eliminate the damaging effects of invasive species in the environment. Products are also available in municipal drinking and waste-water treatment applications.
