When it came time for CSHQA, an award-winning, full-service architecture and engineering firm, to move office locations, they didn’t need to look far. The 20,000-square-foot warehouse was not only a mere three blocks away, its renovation would be an ideal demonstration piece to show existing and potential clients how a building can be updated without changing its historic nature and while respecting the surrounding area architecturally.
Built in 1959, the building was originally used as storage for the rail lines that once ran along Front Street adjacent to the building. The interior space, although smaller, occupies only one floor—unlike the three floors in their previous location—allowing for closer collaboration of employees. The interior design philosophy was to expose the original wood ceiling composed of 10x26 solid timber beams and joists, and and to add 14 new skylights to create uniform interior light levels and reduce energy use. The existing interior columns, 10” diameter concrete, were refurbished and many were left exposed. In keeping with the vintage feel, reclaimed timber was used for some of the interior woodwork as well as frames for artwork.
In addition, the design takes into account several building efficiencies, including the connection to the city’s geothermal system for radiant floor heating throughout the space. The same radiant system is used to cool the space in the summer. Other sustainability upgrades include extensive daylight harvesting with integrated automated lighting and dimming systems, the use of LED fixtures, sustainable landscaping and on-site storm water management, low-use water fixtures, covered bicycle storage, and preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles. The building is targeting LEED Platinum and Green Globes certifications. If achieved, the CSHQA office will be the first LEED Platinum office renovation in Idaho.
CHALLENGE
Find an exterior technology that understood the design and aesthetic goals while also contributing to the building’s LEED Platinum certification.SOLUTION
The Illumination Series Panels, in a custom cool white color, and Smooth NichiBoard to ensure a clean, flawless exterior look.RESULT
The Nichiha panels provided the client design flexibility to modernize the historic building and the first large-scale use of fiber cement panels in the area.
Like many urban areas, Boise is seeing quite a bit of transition in its downtown core. Amidst the tear-downs and new structures, this warehouse renovation was a chance for CSHQA to showcase something new out of something old. With that in mind, the team specified Nichiha’s Illumination Series panels and Smooth NichiBoard to ensure a clean, flawless look on the exterior. The building called for a specific color match, a cool white, to match the sheet metal coping at the top of the new walls.
Another selling point: a built-in ventilated rainscreen system, unique to Nichiha panels, that eliminates the threat of trapped moisture.
“One of the many goals of the building renovation was to explore different technologies and showcase them within and on the building,” says Ted Isbell, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, a senior associate at CSHQA. “We looked at several exterior wall cladding systems, including metal, wood, ACP panels, phenolic resin panels, and fiber cement. Nichiha worked with us to understand our goals.”
Nichiha panels on the CSHQA warehouse were the first large-scale use of fiber cement panels in the Boise area. The panels provided flexibility to work with different design decisions, while modernizing the historic building.
“It completely changed the look of the building,” said Mandie Brozo, project manager at CSHQA, noting that the clean look of the panels has attracted the attention of the real estate community. “Before the renovation, the building was anonymous, no one ever remembered it, and now people are noticing; it’s like a new building.”
For more information about Illumination and other Nichiha products, please visit: www.nichiha.com.
Architect: CSHQA
Location: Boise, Idaho
Project type: Historic remodel
Product: Illumination Series
Project features:
- Smooth, satin finish
- Virtually limitless color palette
- Easy installation
- Low maintenance
- 40% recycled content
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
NBBJ selected to design Russell Investments’ Seattle headquarters
NBBJ has been hired by Russell Investments as the architectural firm to design the interior space of its new global headquarters at 1301 2nd Avenue, a building also designed by NBBJ.
| Aug 11, 2010
Report: Fraud levels fall for construction industry, but companies still losing $6.4 million on average
The global construction, engineering and infrastructure industry saw a significant decline in fraud activity with companies losing an average of $6.4 million over the last three years, according to the latest edition of the Kroll Annual Global Fraud Report, released today at the Association of Corporate Counsel’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Boston. This new figure represents less than half of last year’s amount of $14.2 million.
| Aug 11, 2010
AAMA developing product-based green certification program for fenestration
The American Architectural Manufacturers Association is working on a product-based green certification program for residential and commercial fenestration, the organization announced today. AAMA will use the results of a recent green building survey to help shape the program. Among the survey's findings: 77% of respondents reported a green certification program for fenestration would benefit the product selection process for their company.
| Aug 11, 2010
City offices to up daylight, reduce water use
Breaking ground this month and scheduled for completion in November, the Palmetto Bay Village Hall in Miami-Dade County, Fla., will become the operating center for the mayor, village commissioners, government departments, the police department, and commission chambers. The two-story facility has been designed by JMWA Architects to win LEED Gold certification.
| Aug 11, 2010
Glass features keep Phoenix high-rise cool
A 26-story, 700,000-sf glass-clad tower has become downtown Phoenix's first office high-rise in eight years. One Central Park East, developed by Mesirow Financial, designed by SmithGroup, and built by Holder Construction Company, contains 495,000 sf of office space spanning 16 floors, plus a nine-level parking lot and ground-floor retail space.
| Aug 11, 2010
New HQ for automobile association stresses employee collaboration
AAA Northern California, Nevada, and Utah (AAA NCNU) has a new corporate headquarters in Walnut Creek, Calif. The interior of the six-floor, 250,000-sf building features an open layout by architecture firm Gensler to encourage greater collaboration across the automobile association's departments. Targeting LEED Gold certification, the building uses wood from Forest Stewardship Council-certified...
| Aug 11, 2010
Project's mixed materials downplay massing
Philadelphia-based KlingStubbins provided design services for the 120,000-sf Carnegie Center, which is part of the 103-acre mixed-use Carnegie Center West development in West Windsor Township, N.J. The four-story building features horizontal brick bands, ribbons of glass, aluminum accents, and metal end panels and curtain wall at all four corners to break up the building's massing.
| Aug 11, 2010
Firehouse converted to hip hot property
Sound the alarm! A 9,000-sf former firehouse is being converted into a new multipurpose space for ZUMIX, a nonprofit music and arts organization that's partnering on the project with Landmark Structures of Woburn, Mass., and the East Boston Community Development Corporation. The $2 million renovation of the 1920s structure, known as Engine Company 40 Firehouse, includes a complete gut job to ma...
| Aug 11, 2010
High-tech tower targets LEED Platinum
Construction is slated to begin on the new $38 million AI Tech Center in Hartford, Conn., in spring 2010. The Building Team, which includes Suffolk Construction Co., CBT Architects, and Jones Lang LaSalle, planned the high-tech 13-story, 259,000-sf tower to meet LEED Platinum certification. Green features include photovoltaic power, a fuel cell power plant, abundant natural lighting, and a roof...
| Aug 11, 2010
And the world's tallest building is…
At more than 2,600 feet high, the Burj Dubai (right) can still lay claim to the title of world's tallest building—although like all other super-tall buildings, its exact height will have to be recalculated now that the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) announced a change to its height criteria.
