Photograph by David Torrence
When Space—the architecture firm responsible for übersleek interiors at Monarch, Prime 1000, and Chill—decided to move its offices, it wanted to buy a building in a city neighborhood that it could positively impact. The company found a vacant 90-year-old building on Manchester Avenue in The Grove, which it renovated from roof to slab early last year—though the timing for the undertaking was less than ideal.
“We were a little architectural firm heading right into one of the worst recessions we have known in 50 years,” says Space founder Tom Niemeier. “We were purchasing this building and doing these big renovations when all of our work was collapsing. We were hit hard. It was just starting to really hit when we bought this building, and we were scared, but we decided we had to move forward and try and make it work.”
Sure enough, Space made it work—and the result is an impressive example of energy efficiency.
In May 2010, Space moved from Maplewood to 4168 Manchester, a historic brick building that had remained vacant for a decade. The company spent approximately $850,000 to transform the deteriorating building into 7,500 square feet of contemporary offices for the firm’s employees.
• While renovating the 90-year-old building, the firm uncovered lead paint. “We got rid of it in a good way, and we got help,” says Niemeier. Encapsulating the lead that had seeped into the building also allowed the firm to pour a new slab for the floor with radiant heating.
• Water from ground wells, cooled to 45 degrees, runs through a series of 10-foot copper pipes encased in 8-inch aluminum fins on the ceiling. After absorbing heat from the space, the water returns to the ground to be cooled again.
• The thermal solar array on the building’s roof provides heat gain for the radiant floor. Among the benefits: dust and allergens aren’t circulated via air vents, indoor temperatures are stable, and utility bills are less expensive.
• Space’s alternative heating-and-cooling system includes 15 theogermal wells and a rooftop thermal solar array. It cost a reported $40,000 more than a traditional system—but it cut energy use by at least half.
• Working with Arctic Solar, Space put in solar-thermal panels on the roof that heat water 300 to 400 degrees, before cooling off as the water moves down.
