Henkel has won the first-place award from the Connecticut Building Congress for major renovations or expansions on its new research and development facility at 4 Trefoil Drive in Trumbull.

The German consumer goods company, which moved its North American headquarters to Stamford last year, opened the Trumbull facility in January. Henkel performed a total interior renovation of the pre-existing building to house its expanded laundry and home care R&D group, based at neighboring 30 Trefoil Drive.

“We were in need of expanded research and development space to support our growing business with retail customers in North America, and the building at 4 Trefoil Drive was a perfect fit for both location and overall potential,” said Henkel North America Regional Head of Facilities Management Marc Estra.

“As the space was previously an industrial warehouse, we were able to start with a blank slate and create the exact space we needed within the existing four walls, even adding a second floor within the current building structure. Ultimately, we built a building within a building,” Estra added.

The Trumbull site spans 28,000 square feet and includes formulation laboratories, a consumer product and fragrance evaluation center, and two pilot plants that support production scale-up capabilities for the company’s Beauty Care and Laundry & Home Care divisions.

As part of the project, a pedestrian footbridge was constructed to connect the 4 and 30 Trefoil properties.

The Connecticut Building Congress recognizes “outstanding building projects that exemplify project team excellence and represent the best practices in teamwork by project owners, architects, engineers, constructors and trades.ˮ Annually, the group recognizes project teams who have met or surpassed goals and achieved superior project quality through their close collaboration.