Tecton Architects designs new $40m tech center

Hartford mayor Eddie Perez held a press conference on Constitution Plaza recently, to announce plans for an impending Technology Center to replace the former WFSB Broadcast Center. Designed by Tecton Architects, Inc. for owner/developer AI Engineers, the 12-story $40 million glass, metal and concrete tower will provide the complement needed to balance the plaza's southeast corner with the architecture of the Phoenix Mutual and Science Center buildings. Designed to attract technology-related businesses to the city's downtown, the AI Tech Center will bring a long-missing "people presence" to the corner of Columbus Blvd. and State St. Building plans call for ten floors of office space and two floors of retail space with parking below, and will include a 250-seat auditorium. The progressive AI Tech Center is designed as a high performance building and includes such energy-conservation features as rooftop solar panels, a rooftop garden and a system for collecting and recycling rainwater among the building components in the quest to achieve a LEED Platinum rating.