Falcon Flair for Fine Design Includes Facilities

It's Falcon, it's structural-why shouldn't it win a design award? French business jet manufacturer Dassault Falcon Jet once again proved its passion for structural integrity paired with fine design when it won an award for the renovation of its new Little Ferry, NJ, headquarters.

The design was one of 36 entered in the "Good Neighbor" competition sponsored by New Jersey Business & Industry Association and New Jersey Business magazine. The award honors local firms that contribute to the economic improvement of their areas by constructing a new building or making a significant capital investment in an existing structure.

Dassault Falcon Jet moved to its "new" 140,000-square-foot headquarters in January 1997. The rebuild of the former warehouse allowed the company to consolidate all of its New Jersey operations and employees under one roof, with the exception of the Flight Operations Department, which remains at Teterboro Airport.

The building's interior is influenced by Falcon's flight heritage, with soaring beams designed to resemble ribs in an airplane's wings. A grid-patterned floor, plantings, waterfall and lobby fountains were chosen to mimic the view of earth one sees from a business jet. Interior finishings resemble or duplicate those used in business jet cabins.

By Paul Proctor