Box Office is a three-story building that will be constructed using 32 recycled steel shipping containers on the former Harris Lumber site in Providence. Developer Peter Gill Case of Truth Box says that the inspiration for the idea came from the troubled economy.
The Box Office will serve as a model of small, green, energy-efficient building, using 25% less energy than a conventional new office building.
Gill wants to offer an inexpensive and high performing office space. The 10,000 square feet building accommodates 12 office and studio spaces ranging from 640 square feet to 2,560 square feet and is meant for start-up businesses and artists.
Rhode Island-based green architectural firm, Distill Studio, took over the design aspect of the project. The building features contemporary design and environment-friendly elements.
The design team has designed a well-insulated building, incorporating high performing windows and the most efficient heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) system feasible for the project.
This building is designed to be “all-electric” with no direct use of fossil fuels. All heating and cooling will be with small, decentralized, high efficiency air-to-air heat pumps.
The project has implemented dual-source lighting, which is a combination of overhead lighting with daylight response sensors that measure the natural day light and task lighting.
Thanks to the use of bio-swales, storm-water run-off into the combined storm sewer will be reduced by 67%. This allows storm water to infiltrate back into the ground where, through phyto-remediation, the plants contribute to the filtration of the water.
The Box Office will have comfortable indoor air quality due to the use of environment-friendly interior finishes such as non-petroleum-based insulation and low VOC products along with filtered exterior air, and accessible operable windows.
Truth Box also plans to offer tenants “green leases” that will give financial incentives for maximizing energy performance.
Construction of three more container buildings for Providence are on the plans. Construction is headed up by Josh Brandt of Stack Design, a Rhode Island-based construction firm.
The Box Office workspace is considered to be an ideal and eco-friendly place to think and is expected to generate huge environmental consciousness in a variety of ways.
The project is slated for a March 2010 completion.
