APTA Centennial Center

The new headquarters for the American Physical Therapy Association positions the organization as an engaged, national leader in wellness, dedicated to improving society's health through optimizing movement.

Observed from outside, the building links up with its seven-story neighbor and employs a curve that expresses the geometry of the adjacent road, while offering a front yard that serves as a public plaza. Visitors to APTA Centennial Center are welcomed into a sunny seven-story atrium featuring wide, open stairs that encourage movement. The emphasis on health and movement is carried throughout the building — from its ground-floor café and bicycle-friendly entrance to a top-floor conference space and terrace — thanks to a geometric musculature motif.

APTA Centennial Center is a demonstration of the association's support for environmental stewardship, a commitment to environmental sustainability, and enhanced public awareness of the effect of the environment on human movement, health, and safety. While many efficient systems were integrated into the project design along with careful, healthy material selections, this mission to safeguard the environment for a public health benefit is also evident in APTA's rehabilitation of a heavily contaminated industrial site into a space that celebrates health.