Making a splash: The facility that’s revolutionizing water management

In the heart of Hilliard, Ohio, a groundbreaking facility is revolutionizing how the world manages water. The Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS) Engineering and Technology Center represents more than just a new building; it is the world's largest stormwater research facility by square footage, consolidating decades of expertise under one innovative roof for the very first time for the organization.

"ADS is a manufacturer dedicated to effectively managing the world's most precious resource, which is water," explains Joe Gioffre, Director of Real Estate and Facilities at ADS. "We do that through our broad catalog of innovative products, focusing on stormwater and onsite wastewater management."

For years, ADS’s operations were siloed. Engineering teams, researchers, and scientists were housed across multiple buildings, states and even countries. To further their mission, it quickly became obvious that a single, dedicated facility was needed.

When ADS embarked on this ambitious project, they turned to a partner with whom they had built trust over eight years of collaboration: JLL. Clayton Davis, Senior Managing Director at JLL, emphasizes the evolution of the relationship: "JLL has really transitioned from a service provider to a strategic partner over time."

Rather than offering just one service, JLL looked at ADS's complete goals and brought together the right team, which included brokerage, site selection, workplace strategy, project management, financing and incentives partners.

By taking the time to understand ADS's complete business objectives, JLL was able to identify and deploy additional complementary in-house services that created greater value than any single service line could deliver independently.

“ADS wanted to create a state-of-the-art engineering and technology facility, which on the surface sounds great, but when you're the first to do so, it's really pioneering a new approach in the stormwater management industry,” said Davis.

Site selection marked the beginning of JLL's comprehensive support for ADS. The team conducted a thorough analysis of all the various ADS facilities to understand how the components that are now housed under one roof would work together. This analysis helped determine not only the initial square footage requirements, but also the budget, timing, and ownership strategy critical to the project's success.

The challenge wasn't simply building more space they could grow in. It required creating functionally flexible environments through innovative furniture and wall system solutions that could adapt as their needs evolved.

“You can't build for a snapshot in time today, right? You must forecast for the next 15-20 years for a client. JLL worked hand-in-hand with ADS to understand what that looked like for their employees,” said Davis.

The 110,000-square-foot facility houses nine separate laboratories, each representing either an expansion of existing capabilities or entirely new innovations in stormwater research and development. Without a template to follow, ADS needed to onboard specialized design partners and to develop entirely new approaches from scratch. JLL proved critical in vetting these innovative designs and ensuring successful deployment, particularly for unique labs that required completely bespoke configurations.

The facility's crown jewel is its hydraulics laboratory, featuring 90,000 gallons of underground water storage in a sophisticated closed-loop system.

"It doesn't look like a lot when you look in the window, but it's by far the most complex engineering challenge we have in this facility," Gioffre explains. "It's a closed loop system that has to be filtered, temperature controlled, and the rate of flow that we bring to our testing processes is critical in determining the effectiveness of our new products."

The advanced engineering laboratory offers another innovative approach: a flexible, project-based space designed to replicate manufacturing plant conditions. The facility enables ADS to bring manufacturing challenges from their plants across the United States, Canada, and Mexico to this centralized location, where teams can recreate those problems in a controlled environment and develop improved solutions.

This technical superiority creates a significant competitive edge. The Engineering and Technology Center gives ADS unique research capabilities that are already generating insights their competitors are beginning to adopt for their own businesses, while also serving as a powerful recruitment tool for attracting the best talent in the field.

The facility's design tells the story of ADS’s brand and mission in the sustainability space.

"You'll see patterns within the walls that have that ripple effect. You'll also see our colors—these beautiful blues," said Heather Schreiber, Director of Marketing at ADS. "What we want people to get at the end of the day is to say, 'I get it. I get what ADS is doing. I feel the water story that's going on here.”

Sustainability represents a core focus for ADS, extending beyond simply managing water as a precious resource. The company incorporates recycled plastics into their pipe manufacturing, creating a powerful circular economy model where everyday items like shampoo bottles can be transformed into infrastructure that remains functional underground for up to 100 years without requiring maintenance. The Engineering and Technology Center houses a dedicated team of material science researchers who analyze these recycled plastics to identify innovative approaches that could further extend product lifespan and improve sustainability practices.

"ADS's mission is to protect communities and natural resources, and they are the number one group in the world that does it today. With this facility, the impact they're going to have moving forward is going to continue to be even greater."

Clayton Davis, Senior Managing Director, JLL

The facility represents just the beginning of ADS's transformation in the Hilliard community. Their new headquarters, also coming to life with the help of JLL, is rising across Highway 270, creating a powerful visual statement. 

“JLL’s mission is to help clients see a brighter way and I don't think there's any better example than that with what we did for ADS,” said Davis.

In an era where sustainability and innovation must converge, Ohio has positioned itself at the forefront of global water management solutions—one drop, one innovation, and one partnership at a time.