This contextual 15,000 sq.ft. office building is currently under construction on the Vincentian Sisters’ campus just north of Pittsburgh, PA.  Expected completion is summer of 2008.   The building has been developed through a series of collaborative workshops with the owner, builder, and full design team.  This integrated  design/build process provided a site and building strategy that creates a strong entry sequence, works with the existing slope of the hill (balanced cut / fill), maximizes views and daylight, maintains required fire lanes, and establishes  a natural  stormwater filtration and retention system for the parking lot and building.

All of the stormwater from the new parking lots, building roofs, and landscape areas is collected on site, retained, and naturally filtered though a series of rain gardens and structured bioswales.  These are composed into a meadow landscape of native wildflowers and meditation paths downhill from the building.  A smaller raingarden is combined into the building entry and covered front porch. This very cost effective administration building incorporates many energy saving design elements that are environmentally responsive. 

The organization of the plan creates a compact, highly efficient building that maintains an ambitious ratio of net to gross space.  Subtle shifts and variations are celebrated at the center public spaces and the building ends to form outdoor spaces and to engage the building into the gently sloping hillside. 

The building envelope is highly insulated.  Spray (non urethane) insulation is utilized for all of the exterior of the building with an innovative framing system that reduces thermal bridging. Interior partitions feature acoustic cotton insulation produced from recycled blue jeans.  The exterior brick and cement board siding combine to form a contextual campus building.

Energy modeling was utilized during the design and engineering of the building.  This integrated process facilitates smaller mechanical systems that are carefully fit and sized to the specific efficiencies of the building envelope.

All interior occupied spaces provide ample day lighting and offer indirect ambient office lighting with specific task lighting.  Deep roof overhangs and sun shades are calculated with site sun angles to reduce glare and solar gain while improving interior day lighting.