BRINGING DEEP GREEN TO PORT ORCHARD
Weber Thompson teams with Roberts Building Company to design a deep green spec office building for Port Orchard
SEATTLE – September 22, 2009 – Weber Thompson, a Seattle-based architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and community design firm is taking the lessons learned from designing their own LEED-Gold certified office building The Terry Thomas, in the design of a new speculative project in Port Orchard called the Mile Hill Office Building, which will incorporate numerous deep green sustainable strategies.
This building will be one of only a few sustainable buildings in Port Orchard. The most prominent sustainable building there currently is the Kitsap County Administration Building on the government campus.
"Port Orchard is a great community that has grown tremendously,” states Bob Roberts, owner of Roberts Building Company, and developer of the Mile Hill Office Building. “As a resident, I realize the critical nature of developing properties responsibly and believe it is a social responsibility to maintain the nature and beauty of the area. I am inspired to develop an office building that preserves and contributes to Port Orchard’s environmental quality, and economic vitality.”
Roberts continues, “as more people and businesses become aware of the virtues of living and working in sustainable buildings, I anticipate an increased demand in the years ahead.” Roberts is currently scouting for sustainably-committed tenants who are interested in the Mile Hill Office Building.
The designers are incorporating numerous sustainable strategies and technologies that effect the building’s use of energy and water treatment. Passive cooling, one of the more controversial strategies used at The Terry Thomas, will also be incorporated into this project.
“Our client is looking for a highly sustainable and economical building,” states Scott Thompson AIA, LEED AP, a founding principal at Weber Thompson and the Principal in charge of both The Terry Thomas and the Mile Hill Office Building. “We plan to take what we have learned as designers and inhabitants of The Terry Thomas and improve our buildings as technologies and market acceptance continues to evolve. The design team will go beyond The Terry Thomas and incorporate strategies we weren’t able to do here.”
“As the developer, I have the goal of developing an office building that is not only good for the environment, but also good for the health and productivity of the people who work there," states Roberts. “As a contractor, I rarely have the opportunity to build really sustainable buildings. Developing my own building is an opportunity to go deep green.”
The project team is combining time-tested design strategies and building components with new technologies to create a simple and affordable building with very little impact on the environment. The designers started with the building’s orientation, which was placed to optimize the passive solar gain and passive cooling, and maximize natural ventilation and daylighting.
One main goal of the building’s program is to not use Kitsap County’s stormwater treatment at all. Water will be collected on site to reuse for irrigation; any remaining water will be naturally infiltrated through porous concrete, rain gardens and a green roof that will encompass over 50% of the roof area.
Other strategies being designed into the building are geothermal heating using a ground source heat pump; exterior mounted, automated blinds; and a prominent exterior stair to encourage less elevator usage and more social/community interaction.
The Mile Hill Office Building is registered with the USGBC for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Core and Shell (CS), and the team is pursuing LEED-CS Platinum certification – currently the highest level of certification awarded. LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design construction and operation of high-performance environmentally sustainable buildings.
The new 14,000sf building is located in an area on the outskirts of Port Orchard that is currently populated by a mix of single family housing, two story commercial buildings and large stands of old growth trees. The building will be two and a half stories, wood framed with a level of sublevel parking, and minimal surface parking screened by landscaping.
The design of the Mile Hill Office Building reflects the character and scale of its rustic, suburban setting. An exposed structure and clean lines mark the building which is designed with a minimal, modern aesthetic juxtaposed with warm materials such as wood trusses. The building sits back from Mile Hill Road and has a transparency created by oversized windows and a shallow building floor width. This will allow a lush grove of mature Madrona and Douglas Fir trees located to the north and east of the building to be visible from all portions of the site.
Project Team
Developer/Builder: Roberts Building Company - Bob Roberts, Owner and Suzette West, World West Investment, Assistant Project Manager
Architecture: Weber Thompson Scott Thompson AIA, LEED AP, Principal in Charge Amanda Keating AIA, LEED AP, Project Manager Gabe Hanson Assoc AIA, LEED AP, Designer
Leasing Agent: Suzette West, World West Investments
EDITOR’S NOTE: High resolution images of the Mile Hill Drive Office Building are available on request.
About Weber Thompson
Weber Thompson was founded in 1987 as an architectural firm focused primarily on urban in-fill, mixed-use projects. The firm has since evolved into a highly diversified design agency with capabilities in four complementary design disciplines: Architecture, Interior Design, Community Design and Landscape Architecture. With special attention to its clients’ vision and the environment, as well as careful collaboration between client and design/construction teams, Weber Thompson’s primary objective is to design exceptional, sustainable projects that help its clients find success. For more information, visit www.weberthompson.com or contact Weber Thompson at (206) 344-5700 or info@weberthompson.com.