Panama Pacifico, located at the former U.S. Howard Air Force Base in the Republic of Panama, is the largest master-planned community in Latin America, and an exemplar of smart growth and sustainable practice.
When Atlanta-based architectural firm Wakefield Beasley and Associates won the bid to design office buildings at the site, they began by creating a new Latin American office for their own operations. The firm set out to achieve the first LEED certification in the development, and needed sustainable furnishings that could help contribute points toward that goal.
Enter Trendway: a CarbonNeutral®-certified manufacturer with a Zero-Waste-to-Landfill facility, which just so happens to have on-the-ground support in Panama.
“Since LEED certification is still a fairly new concept here, having a furniture dealer in Panama who knew the ins and outs of LEED certification was extremely unique and a huge help to the client,” explains Jennifer Simpson, director of design and sustainability at Simpson Furnones, a Trendway dealer which opened its Panama office in 2006.
Trendway’s array of BIFMA level-certified furnishings made it easy for designers to acquire highly transparent and detailed product sustainability information without slowing the project’s already-tight timeline. Simpson was also able to provide Wakefield Beasley with the technical documentation and product properties needed to meet LEED requirements.
The project received LEED-CI certification in August 2013, and has set a sustainable template for future growth at Panama Pacifico.
For more information about the Panama Pacifico project, visit their website.
