The “Box Office” project in Providence, Rhode Island has been completed. Constructed from 32 Shipping Containers the 3-story, 10,000-square-foot building was designed by Joe Haskett, Principal at Distill Studio, a Providence-based, sustainable design office. Peter Gill Case of Truth Box is the owner and developer.
Featuring 12 office and studio units, the layout is modeled on London’s Container City residences, Amsterdam’s Keetowen Tempo Housing, and Puma City, a traveling retail, event, and bar space made out of shipping containers.
Case’s Box Office is already a local hit–four and a half units are pre-leased at $1000 for a standard 640-square-foot space. Energy-efficient tenants may even get a price break. Case is planning to offer “green leases” that vary in price based on power consumption.
Case claims that the Box Office is cheaper to build than new construction at an estimated price of $1.8 million. The building will also be more energy-efficient, using 25% less energy than conventional structures with heating and cooling from decentralized air-to-air heat pumps. Excess rainwater will be collected by bioswales or “rain gardens” to feed plant life.