Starbucks Opens New Reclamation Drive Thru Made From Recycled Shipping Containers

If you happen to be passing through Tukwila, Washington, make a pit stop at Starbucks' brand new reclaimed shipping container coffee shop. The first in what could possibly be a new branding strategy, the Reclamation Drive-Thru is built out of four shipping containers and has been designed to LEED green building standards. Designed in-house by resident Starbucks architects, the container coffee shop is part of a growing initiative at Starbucks to encourage green building to reduce energy use and operational costs as well as to push the envelope on environmental design in retail. As with all things from the global coffee dispensary, the container drive-thru is Starbucksified and emanates the same trendy design aesthetic you'd expect from their other coffee shops. We checked in with Starbucks and got them to spill the beans about their latest creation.

starbucks, reclamation drive thru, shipping containers, cargotecture, coffee shop, tukwila, washington

Inspiration for the shipping container drive thru came from the company’s use of the containers to ship their coffee and tea from sources around the world. Rather than let the containers wallow after moving their goods, the brilliant minds in Seattle thought to put them to good use and so the Reclamation Drive Thru was brewed up. So far, it’s just a one-off shop, but it could serve as the prototype for future retail locations.

Although it’s not certified yet, the company hopes to achieve LEED soon, which will make the shop the first LEED building in Tukwila. They’ve reduced signage by using the actual building as the sign and also integrated rainwater harvesting and xeriscaping to minimize water consumption. Frankly we’re happy that the coffee giant is jumping on the green bandwagon as their growing interest can help push sustainability and design further. We can’t particularly say we’re please that the latest shop is a drive-thru, but at least they included other strategies to reduce the impact.

The new coffee shop opened on December 13th and is plying Washingtonians with their Christmas Blend as we speak. We had a chance to check in with representatives from Starbucks to find out more about their newest store. Read on to get the skinny (as in latte) on what could soon be the standard Starbucks coffee shop.

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6 Comments

Manuelita C February 1, 2012 at 7:12 am

Con mis compañerod de trabajo en http://www.segurosfalabella.cl siempre vamos a Starbucks los martes, espero que algún día los locales en Chile sean como estos.

Saludos!
Y es muy bueno el blog

BetsyV January 23, 2012 at 7:27 pm

My question is, how many times have the containers been used for shipping coffee (or ANY products) BEFORE they are retired? Hopefully it’s not another example of one-time use.

maryj January 12, 2012 at 6:43 pm

attractive 2nd chance that should inspire more use of containers as a building option.

Ma Hen January 10, 2012 at 5:10 pm

Nice that they reused the containers…trying to appear to be “green”. Fact is, it is STILL a drive-thru & therefore a major cause of pollution. Another case of greenwashing. Consumers are far more savvy than they appear to believe!

MatterArchitecture December 19, 2011 at 10:05 pm

It is a good concept and one better seen in a project called Container City done in Puebla Mexico. A mix use application done about six years ago.

Kreddible Trout December 19, 2011 at 1:05 pm

old news that crapbucks is capitalizing on. this has been a progressive trend for years among independent businesses for years. independant businesses that crapbucks would put out of business in a heartbeat.

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