When Rice Fergus Miller Architecture and Planning moved into its new headquarters at the beginning of June, one of Bremerton’s long-abandoned buildings came back to life, housing one of Kitsap’s fastest-growing businesses. The building, which in its former life was a Sears auto center, was built to LEED Platinum standards (the highest possible) and once certified, will become the first Platinum commercial building on the Olympic Peninsula.
The architectural firm is not new to the idea of repurposing old buildings — it had previously transformed a vacant Good Guys retail box into a medical building and headquarters for The Doctors Clinic, an efficiently functioning space that features innovative design. Neither is the company new at designing a super-green building: The firm’s new headquarters was its seventh LEED project. But what made this project different from all the rest was the company’s dual role: both as the designer and the owner.
Steve Rice, one of the three partners in the firm, said sometimes there’s a fear for companies that they will spend a lot of money on a green building without knowing if it was worth the investment.
“We wanted to find out how it feels for owners,” he said.
To answer the question of how sustainable a project they could build, the staff, along with the builder, Tim Ryan Construction, came together in a charrette (brainstorming session) to discuss their vision.
“This was a very important event in what we achieved. We set aside the issue of which LEED level we wanted and looked for the most sustainable goal within financial reason,” Rice said. “It didn’t take long to realize it had ‘Platinum’ all over it.”
The three-level, 30,000-square-foot building was built by Sears in the 1940s as an auto center to complement its retail operation across the street. When Sears moved to Silverdale, the building stood empty for 24 years, possibly doomed to an eventual demolition, like so many other old buildings in downtown Bremerton.
For the architects at Rice Fergus Miller, the worn-down building with a partially-built interior was the sort of challenge professionals would relish — not only to create a showcase for sustainability and a space employees will love, but also to make a design statement and to experiment with some new ideas. The final product, two floors with a mezzanine level, is a fusion of old and new (with some design surprises to the untrained eye) and a study of sorts in how old materials can be creatively recycled.
“We have a ‘new meets old’ ethic,” said Dan Ryan, president of Tim Ryan Construction, who worked with the architects on the project. “If you’re recycling an old building, if something is sound, you keep it.”
For the construction crew, that meant extra attention had to be paid every step of the process to determine what stays and what goes — and what can be done with whatever doesn’t stay. One of the things that didn’t stay was a portion of the upper-story floor: A hole was cut to allow for air and light movement as well as create sort of a connection between the staff on the two levels. The 1948 Douglas fir beams were taken to a sawmill in Indianola to make smaller boards for the 35-foot long “feature wall” by the entrance that tells the firm’s history. Salvaged 2-by-2 ceiling furring found new life as seven beautifully done, bar-height collaboration tables, thanks to the craftsmanship of Bremerton brothers Chris and Ryan Tincher, a general contractor and finish carpenter, respectively.
What gives the building its character, as well as a lot of texture and dimension, however, is fusion of old and new in the design itself. A rustic-looking wall leading to the upper level is the original. The ceiling, on the other hand, is a successful combination of salvaged and new. With the roof rotted beyond repair, the non-rotted portions were reused for reframing the original high roof, while the rest of the roof — the majority — used new lumber.
“Do you try to make old things look new? We stepped back and said, as a design approach, we’ll let the old and new collide,” Rice said.
The True Star of the Green Approach
Before the design began, Rice said the focal question was, “Given what we’re inheriting, what’s the most sustainable thing we can do?” Which translated into recycling anything unusable and repurposing and reusing everything possible. In the end, 75 percent of the building’s shell and interior structure was reused.
The building has many features one would expect from an environmentally friendly project: solar panels providing for 10 percent of the energy needs, materials such as cork flooring and lumber certified as sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council, recycled content carpet, low-VOC finishes. The project received 64 points already from the design toward the 80-point requirement for the LEED Platinum certification, with 93 total points submitted (points are submitted in two phases, including one pre-construction). Certification was expected sometime in July.
What really takes the project over the top is its heating and cooling method, a highly sophisticated system with a simple premise: As long as the temperature outside is between 60 and 75 degrees (called the passive zone), neither heating nor cooling will be provided by the system itself. The energy use is expected to be at about 32 percent of an average office building in Seattle, and the firm says this will be the most energy-efficient office building in the Puget Sound region (and possibly in Western Washington).
The HVAC system takes into account heat generated by bodies, computers and lighting, and uses outdoor temperatures as a gauge. The thermostat itself is outside, and sophisticated system controls integrate heating, cooling, ventilation and lights, and can be fine-tuned as the occupants settle in.
“The system does not respond to inside temperatures,” Rice said. When the outside temperatures are within the passive zone range, a green light stays on, telling the staff they can open windows to let fresh air in. Outside of the range, the light turns red, and 24 mini-heat pumps begin working.
The ventilation is preheated for further energy efficiency, and since the system accounts for the extra insulation blanket and the heat generated by people and things, it may actually take four to five days of sub-60 temps for the pumps to kick in. A massive fan attached to the ceiling, which can be seen from the first floor because of the open design, continuously mixes tempered and ventilation air.
“There is not a system like this anywhere. It’s a custom approach,” Rice said.
A complex computer model was used during the design phase to simulate it. The system costs about $1 more per square foot over a typical system, so the company paid $22,000 extra (based on the net 22,000 square feet). But the projected savings will add up to $24,000 per year, so the additional investment will pay for itself within 12 months.
One feature that will not pay for itself is the rainwater harvesting system that reduces potable water use by 65 percent, capturing water runoff and recycling it for irrigation and bathrooms. The complex engineering system and installation make the feature less economically appealing, but contributes to the building’s environmental stewardship.
Preserving History
The idea of “old meets new” is expressed in several areas via plaques containing historic information about the building. In a way, the new Rice Fergus Miller headquarters is curating the history of its predecessor. Even the three conference rooms are named B, T, and O, a nod to the old advertisement on the building that said “Batteries, Tires and Oil.”
“We have saved and reused a piece of Bremerton’s retail heritage and that was important to us,” Rice said.
Rice Fergus Miller Architecture and Planning, which has 39 employees, outgrew its previous space across the street four years ago. Their goal was to remain in downtown Bremerton — and the partners see the $5 million project as a reinvestment into downtown.
The company has been in existence for as long as its new home has been empty: 24 years. Three years after Rice launched the firm solo in 1987, Dave Fergus joined as a partner in 1990, and Mike Miller came on board in 2002. The firm moved to its previous headquarters in 1991, and went on to become one of Kitsap Peninsula’s most successful locally owned professional businesses. Revenues have been steadily climbing, with around $7 million in gross revenues in 2010. The firm specializes in health care, senior housing, fire and emergency services as well as community projects.
“We’ve filled a little void and we’ve made good strides,” said Rice, giving credit to his partners, the staff as well as Bremerton and Kitsap County for being supportive of their business. “I never imagined we’d be a firm this size in a place like this.”
