INHABITAT: What inspired the use of shipping containers for the new store?
Alan Hilowitz: Our store designs reflect Starbucks’ core mission as a gathering place for the communities we serve, as well as a commitment to reduce our environmental footprint and use our scale for good. Our designers were inspired to create this store both as a result of the shipyard that can be seen out the back windows of our headquarters in South Seattle, as well as a desire to recycle the same kind of shipping containers that transport our coffees and teas around the world.”
INHABITAT: Who was the architect or designer that created the project?
Alan Hilowitz: Starbucks designed the store in-house. Tony Gale, Starbucks’ corporate architect (former Seattle City Architect), served as the architect of record.
INHABITAT: What about LEED certification?
Alan Hilowitz: The store is designed to be LEED certified but has not achieved certification yet.
INHABITAT: What are some of the strategies the store made use of to try and achieve LEED certification?
Alan Hilowitz: Some the strategies Starbucks used in designing the store to achieve LEED certification included: water efficient irrigation; energy performance optimization; use of green power; construction waste management; recycled content; low-emitting materials; and overall innovation and design.
INHABITAT: Was this a prototype or a one-off? Any plans for more prefabricated shipping container stores throughout the country?
Alan Hilowitz: At this time, this store is one-of-a-kind. However, we are viewing this as a prototype which could be replicated in other locations
We also had a chance to hear from Starbucks’ corporate architect, Tone Gale III, who was also the architect of record for the project.
INHABITAT: What was the most interesting thing your team learned from building this project?
Tony Gale III: We were able to open our minds to the use of very common elements destined for the landfill as structure for a high-quality, drive-thru coffee house design – essentially creating an industrial beacon for sustainable thinking.
INHABITAT: Most Starbucks shops include a drive through window for your customers’ convenience, although this encourages people to idle their cars unnecessarily. Is Starbucks working to encourage anti-idling behavior or making use of any other incentives to get people to minimize their cars running?
Tony Gale III: Between one-third and one-half of Starbucks stores in the U.S. have a drive-thru. Starbucks aims to encourage anti-idling behavior primarily through speed of service.
Images ©Tom Ackerman, Starbucks
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
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.
attractive 2nd chance that should inspire more use of containers as a building option.
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!
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.
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.
http://www.redfish-bluefish.com/