Air Products begins construction of new global headquarters
September 23, 2019
Air Products recently held a ceremonial groundbreaking for its new global headquarters in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, USA. More than two-hundred guests were in attendance at the event, including both Air Products personnel as well as state officials and dignitaries.
The company has been in operation for over seventy-five years, providing gases and related equipment to a number of industries, including metals, manufacturing, refining, chemicals, electronics, and food and beverage. It is also a leading supplier of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment.
Air Products employs around 16,000 staff globally, and in 2018 reported fiscal sales of $8.9 billion from its operations in fifty countries. It has a current market capitalisation of approximately $50 billion.
The company’s new headquarters is located just over one mile from its existing location and occupies fifty-acres. Occupancy is targeted for Summer 2021, when the facility will become the base for approximately 2,000 Air Products employees, with capacity for growth. The site will include new administration offices and a research and development facility. In addition to a previously announced agreement for a portion of the site, the company has made the balance of its existing location available to the real estate market.
Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman, President and CEO of Air Products, stated during the groundbreaking, “We need a headquarters that represents who we are as a world-leading company. We want to create modern office and R&D facilities that are energising, collaborative and inclusive. When you see the new global headquarters renderings, without any doubt, the new office space and world-class R&D facility will be representative of who we are and what we stand for.”
“This new headquarters will exemplify our ‘4S’ culture and reflect the safety, speed, simplicity and self-confidence that have driven our success and will continue to do so,” he continued. “We will also emphasise a fifth ‘S’ with these new facilities – sustainability. Sustainability is at the heart of what we do as a business, every day around the world. That’s important to our customers, our partners, and our talented and committed employees.”
Sustainability features at the new location include a much smaller building footprint, highly energy-efficient buildings, solar panels, green roofs and a hydrogen vehicle fuelling station.
