BusinessWeek Online Architectural Record Awards: THE TIMES BUILDING: IT'S FIT FOR PRINT

Using color, industrial materials, and imagination, The New York Times built an efficient printing plant and created a welcoming space for its employees. Polshek and Partners Architects wrapped the Times logo around the building and used a wall of glass to reveal the presses inside. The effect is to advertise the newspaper to millions of motorists passing on a six-lane highway near LaGuardia Airport. Inside, lots of daylight, raised walkways, and a high-tech look define the cavernous, 515,000-square-foot facility. The building is half the size of its sister plant in New Jersey, which was built eight years ago. At $350 million, the new one cost $100 million less but matches the other in output and quality. The Times wanted to use the process of designing the plant to foster a less contentious relationship with its nine unions. Three hundred employees contributed ideas. The jury agreed they had something to say.