Project Description
This 110,000 square foot facility, located on Route 202 about five miles south of West Chester, PA, is home to Mercedes-Benz of West Chester. The equipment and amenities in this spectacular new building enable the staff to provide their clients with an unparalleled level of service and attention.
Dever Architects was commissioned by the owners to design the best automobile sales and service facility in the country. We began our design work only after extensive visits to numerous other Mercedes-Benz dealerships throughout the United States. This completely original, one-of-a-kind building incorporates many new ideas about the design of automobile dealerships. It is one of the first of the new breed of dealerships that provides many services not found in old-style facilities. Within this building is a comfortable lounge with a coffee bar, fireplace, and children’s playroom, a retail shop with merchandise ranging from golf clubs to trail bikes, and even a virtual environment where future owners can choose and experience the options and finishes in their luxury “Maybach” vehicle before it is even built. The history of Mercedes-Benz automobiles is highlighted in several interactive exhibit areas throughout the building.
The dramatic showroom, with its 18-foot high coffered ceiling, is fronted by a large expanse of 13-foot high glass panels supported by structural glass mullions, creating a sheer 200-foot long glass wall interrupted only by narrow fieldstone piers. These piers support a dramatic 18-foot cantilevered overhang, the building’s signature form that provides shade for the showroom and creates a proscenium stage for the new vehicles making their “debut” on the curved drive below.
The lower level houses the car wash and detail areas, and provides indoor parking spaces for 83 cars. There is a specially-appointed new car delivery area here that serves as the ideal setting for the new owners to learn about their vehicle’s many features.
Dever Architects was pleased to have our Mercedes-Benz of West Chester project be named the winner of the 2003 AIA Delaware “Colleague’s Choice Award for Recognition of Design Excellence” in the Commercial / Industrial Category.
The project was also featured in the June 27, 2003 Changing Skylines column by Philadelphia Inquirer Architecture Critic Inga Saffron.