The Project is the interior renovation of an existing Mohawk Group showroom in Dalton, Georgia, into the new Mohawk Design Studio. The studio will occupy approximately 33,000 square feet on one floor of an existing building. At this time, the renovation does not include any alterations to the existing building envelope, and all existing HVAC equipment and ductwork will remain. The conceptual design of the Mohawk Design Studio has already been provided by students from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). The Project Team wishes to pursue Living Building Challenge (LBC) Petal certification for the Project to include achievement of the Materials, Equity, and Beauty Petals.
Mohawk Design Studio
Petal Certified
Living Building Challenge 2.1
Performance Areas
Site • Health • Equity • Beauty
Site
Site condition prior to project start: Greyfield
Landscape consultant completed a thorough site analysis and provided the team report documenting the existing conditions and recommended solution. Following which, the team removed all of the invasive plants that were surrounding and creeping onto the building and plants with native plants.
Health + Happiness
For the Mohawk Design Center, the team wanted to create an open office environment that would allow ample amount of natural light and view to the beautiful greenery and mountains. The goal was to explore the strengths of the existing space to the fullest resulting into an inspiring, creative and collaborative atmosphere. Incorporating the six design elements of Biophilia such as the Natural Shapes and Form which the team has taken into consideration while arranging the furniture and flooring patterns. Natural pattern and processes are an integral part of the product design process at the Mohawk design studio and were incorporated in design the space as well. Some examples are the light beams that reflect a rapid flowing river, ceiling pattern reflects a bird’s nest.
Successful Red List Substitutions
22 13 16, Muller Pipe Fittings, PVC, Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, Cast Iron Fittings
Challenges
Finding appropriate lighting that met all of the ingredient requirements was a particular challenge. Manufacturers were non-responsive and not forthcoming with information. HVAC equipment was a challenge to source without a Zone Jump.
Equity
Mohawk Group strives to consider the impact and effects that new projects impose on the surrounding communities. By using less harmful materials and creating a space for visitors to learn about Mohawk Group and the design process, the project team felt that limiting construction and maximizing views was the best way to adapt the intent of the Equity Petal.
Beauty
Useful strategies
Fitting the design to the Living Building Challenge requirements, rather than fitting the Living Building Challenge requirements to the design, would be the preferred process in the future.
Lessons Learned
The most important lesson learned is that had the project team set clear design and material standards from the project on-set, documentation and design decisions would have taken much less time to compile and fewer confusions and inconsistencies would have resulted.
