distill studio
Big Idea Architecture with Small Energy Footprints
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distill studio was recently awared the highest honor (Gold) for the design of the ‘Box Office’ by Rhode Island Monthly. Here’s what they had to say:
“In Providence? Really? This super commercial office space constructed of recycled shipping containers was an unexpected delight. Structurally and spatially, the jury commended the dynamic design up-and-down. ‘Made up of thirty-five Standard ISO shipping containers, teh Box Office is configured to offer twelve units of space that range in square footage from 640 to 2,500 square feet,’ the architect says. The building uses less energy than other office buildings due to the design team’s forward-thinking scheming. And, with super energy-recovery ventilators in each unit and sustainable interior finishes, it offers excellent indoor-air quality. Day-lighting and veiws are unbelivable too. More pleasure dome than work environment, we only hope similar buildings spring up in its fantastic wave.”
Attending the event, were others winners and those that helped make the project a success.
Click here to go to the RI-Monthly -
distill is currently working on a multi-unit Apartment project. The goal is to combine good design, solid and simple building science principles, and sustainable site strategies to bring on line an elegant solution for an urban under-utilized space. Stay tuned for further updates as the project moves along.
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Check out the recent article in Entrepreneur Magazine regarding distill studio, the Box Office and some new ideas we’re working on.
Click here to go to the article in Entrepreneur Magazine -
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distill studio was in the Belgium Magazine Le VIF Weekend for the ‘Box Office’ project. The article titled, ‘Heavy Metal’ showcases the best desiged container projects in the world. distill studio’s Box Office was afforded not only the magazine cover, but the article feature.
distill studio was recently featured in an article for Design New England for their work on the ‘Box Office’ project. Click here, to go to the article (page 50).
One of distill studio’s most recent projects made the April Cover of Rhode Island Home & Design. The article focuses on the cost effective way distill studio approached this deep-energy retrofit. Through the combination of smart design and building science, the results can be extremely positive. Click here to go to the article (page 22).
distill studio was featured in Rhode Island Home & Design Magazine’s ‘Green Issue.’ click here for a link to the aricle (page 19).
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Yesterday morning, Senator Reed (of Rhode Island) and Nancy Sutley, Chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality visited the Box Office for a tour. The tour, led by Architect Joe Haskett (of distill studio) and Owner, Peter Gill Case (of Truth Box Inc.) started with a brief history, highlighted the energy efficiency of the project and culminated with both the Senator and Chairwoman meeting the various small companies that call the Box Office their home. Keep an eye out for a more detailed description of the tour, when we guest blog on the White House website under the Council on Environmental Quality. For an article regarding the Senator and the Chairwoman’s visit to Rhode Island, please see the article in the Providence Journal.
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Joe Haskett, of distill studio and a member of NESEA, was asked to review ‘Green Building Product Certifications: GETTING WHAT YOU NEED.’ It was published by BUILDINGGREEN in 2011 and was principally authored by Jennifer Atlee with contributions from Nadav Malin and Tristan Roberts. Click HERE to go to NESEA’s Blog for Haskett’s full review.
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photo above by Aaron Usher
photo above by Aaron Usher
An existing wood-frame, single family home was the focus of a deep energy retro-fit. Located on the East Side of Providence, this type of project has proven difficult for many home-owners when trying to combine cost-effectiveness with ‘green.’
In order to keep costs down, distill studio moved away from the typical talk of renewable energy sources and approached this project by focusing on the fudamentals of energy-efficiency and building science. Speical attention was paid to components such as Air-Barriers, Envelope and Heating and Cooling strategies.
We will be updating our projects tab shortly to demonstrate our design strategy, show before and after images and share energy-use data once we have enough to demonstrate where this existing house now stands in comparison to it’s old patterns.
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The ‘Box Office’ is complete and had its first tenants move in during the month of September. Designing an innovative building is fun. However, designing an innovative building is even more fun when it works. Here, the intention was to provide a first-of-its kind, highly-efficient, Class-A office space at a price people would find attractive. distill studio is happy to share that it has filled consistently over the first few months and is currently 75% leased up. In terms of energy, we are tracking the overall usage and will share the data when we present at NESEA’s BE coming up in March (www.nesea.org).
Box Office from the North - photo by Nat Rea
Box Office at night - photo by Nat Rea
Click here or go to our ‘project’ tab to see more photos of the completed ‘Box Office’ project.
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Joe Haskett, of distill studio, will be presenting the ‘Box Office’ project this coming March in Boston at the NESEA Building Energy Conference.
For more information about the conference and the presentation track titled “Commercial Buildings, Retro-fit and New” go to: www.nesea.org
For a quick read of what the presentation will cover, please see below