At the Boeing Company’s Salt Lake City site, this new paint facility fills an integral role in the production of the innovative new 787 Dreamliner. Axis Architects developed a complete facility design, and provided full construction administration services for this LEED Silver certified building.

The facility is designed around two large booths; one for preparation, and one for painting and curing. An efficient monorail crane system was designed in cooperation with material handling specialists to move the parts efficiently through the booths and associated procedures.

There is a year-round need for heat for the paint curing process, so a large solar hot water system was integrated into the design; utilizing evacuated tube solar collectors on the roof, with associated pumps and controls, and a 16,000 gallon thermal energy storage tank. Other notable systems include a water treatment system, a water saving soft water system for the 2-stage evaporative coolers, and a paint kitchen.
The roof became a coordinated landscape of multiple systems, including the solar array, booth air handlers, exhaust stacks, building air handler, and equipment platforms. Due to the proximity to the Salt Lake International Airport, the Airport Authority required a study to demonstrate that reflected glare from the solar array would not have adverse effects on operations. Axis Architects was able to model the reflections from the complex forms of the glass tube arrays, for all times of day, and for all times of year; indicating that risk is minimal.

This facility functions efficiently, with all inter-related systems contributing to the manufacturing process, and works for Boeing’s commitment to sustainability and extremely high quality standards.