LGE Design Build has completed construction on a new 64,000-square-foot office and warehouse building in Chandler for Savage Universal, which has provided products for the photography industry since 1937.
Needing a more efficient space for its headquarters, the family-run company hired LGE to construct a new building at the gateway of the Chandler Airport Business Park, located at 2050 S. Stearman Drive near the Loop 202.
Savage Universal converts seamless paper in 69 different colors into background paper for commercial, industrial and portrait photographers all over the world. The company also converts other types of materials such as cotton, linen and muslin to supplement background paper, and makes portable and permanent studio systems.
“LGE constructed a high quality building that will suit our specific office and warehouse needs for years to come,” said Sylvester Hank, president of Savage Universal. “We are proud of our new home. We are welcoming national and international customers to visit when they are in the area for trade shows.”
The company, with about 50 employees, sells to distributors and dealers. Savage Universal provides about 65 percent of the world market share of photographic background paper.
Savage Universal’s building includes 10 warehouse dock doors to assist in product distribution. The building also includes a small museum, located near the front lobby, that will showcase historic equipment, catalogs, brochures and other company documents dating to the 1930s. The museum is expected to be completed in a couple of months.
“Our team had fun constructing Savage Universal because the project combined multiple uses for office and warehouse space and also a small museum to display the company’s heritage,” said Dave Sellers, LGE Design Build’s president.
The building’s design draws inspiration from Savage Universal’s industry.
“We incorporated a unique system of metal panels over glass into the design of the contemporary building to emphasize the high technology nature of Savage Universal’s business,” said Sherman Cawley, a principal of Cawley Architects.
