Putting the "Green" in Green Door

A nonprofit in Washington, D.C., embodies the eco-friendly, cost-conscious vision of Envision Design

Laura Fisher Kaiser -- Interior Design, 6/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

A warehouse was not the image Judith Johnson had in mind. As executive director of Green Door, a nonprofit that prepares people with severe mental illness to work and live independently, she felt that this former 1950's roofing-supply facility in northwest Washington, D.C., was too ugly and remote. And, let's face it, the "warehousing" connotation wasn't good for business. But after being rejected by several NIMBY landlords, she reconsidered.

The next step was to hire Envision Design, the firm that had recently completed the headquarters for Greenpeace—the CFO of which had founded Green Door in 1976. With a modest budget of $2.5 million, founding principal Kendall Wilson transformed Green Door's dark one-story brick building into an environment that's eco-friendly, cheerful, and filled with natural light.

"Our building shows how we value people," says Johnson, who's also proved an innovative curator: Inexpensive ethnic tapestries, rubber doormats, and Japanese nylon kites hang with minimalist precision on the brightly painted walls, adding to the decidedly noninstitutional feel.

The building also demonstrates a commitment to the environment. Besides zero-VOC paint, low-VOC adhesives, salvaged and refurbished file cabinets, formaldehyde-free plywood, and doors made from maple certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, Wilson focused on a high recycled content for carpeting, ceramic tile, gypsum-board, translucent plastic panels, tackboard fabric, and perforated-aluminum mini-blinds. The team also incorporated such rapidly renewable materials as linoleum for floors. In lieu of PVC products, rubber seals the joints between walls and floor, and frosted window film is made from polyester.

In "recycling" the warehouse itself, Envision took advantage of the onetime loading dock to create a canopied entrance and a lively daylit lobby. A café run by members—as people enrolled in the skills-training program are called—offers refreshments to those waiting for appointments. Guests are free to wander the area, and it's not uncommon to see them making a loop: down the handicapped-accessible ramp, past an interior carp pond and fountain, then up a few steps back to the café. "If you have a mental illness," Johnson points out, "you might need to walk around or be off by yourself as opposed to sitting in a row of chairs." (Even if those chairs are clusters of Verner Panton classics in white polypropylene.)

At 22,000 square feet, Green Door accommodates up to 1,200 members, who receive a variety of services from doctors, nurses, counselors, and case managers. To make sure that work areas have access to natural light, Wilson increased perimeter windows by 300 percent, and many of them are operable, so everyone benefits from fresh air, too. Above the central work room, the canted scrims of a stretched-polyester ceiling system diffuse sunshine from four new skylights.

In other energy-saving strategies, Envision insulated the roof with rigid extruded polystyrene and installed a low-use mechanical system, the extra cost of which should be recouped after seven years of reduced energy bills.

Thoughtful design hasn't been the only source of savings, however. Since moving to this transitional neighborhood, Green Door has spent virtually nothing on outreach—the application rate has soared as word spreads among the target population. As one member told executive director Johnson, "To do all this, you must care about us a lot."

Beneath a scrim of stretched polyester, the lobby's carp pond and fountain soothe visitors. A window behind the reception desk allows staff to keep an eye on things.

Above: Plywood-framed panels of recycled plastic, some sandwiching sea grass, allow light to filter between a conference room and a corridor.

Top right: An office corridor features fluorescent pendant fixtures, polyester window film, and broadloom with more than 50 percent post-consumer recycled and bio-based content. Center right: Envision Design's Kendall Wilson specified tack-panel fabric with a 67 percent recycled content. Bottom right: Floating planes of a lay-in ceiling eliminated costs for trim.

Top left: Plastic-laminate desk surfaces, Lumasite cabinet doors, salvaged and refurbished file cabinets, and ergonomic task chairs that are 96 percent recyclable. Center left: Chairs by William Sawaya lining the multipurpose room's linoleum floor. Bottom left: The loading dock turned lobby. Top right: Skylights occupy four parking spaces in the rooftop lot. Bottom right: Verner Panton chairs furnish the waiting area's member-staffed café.

PROJECT MANAGER: MIKE JANAS. PROJECT TEAM: KEVIN KENNEY; ANN ARDERY; KATHLEEN CREED; ROD LETONJA; SHANE POMAJAMBO. POND TILE (LOBBY): DAL-TILE CORPORATION. POND SOLID SURFACING: DUPONT. FOUNTAIN CONCRETE: CONCRETE JUNGLE. FLOOR SEALER: DURON. WALL WASHERS: WINONA LIGHTING. LINEAR FIXTURES (LOBBY), RECESSED CEILING FIXTURES (CONFERENCE ROOM AND CORRIDOR, WORK ROOM, CAF): LIGHTOLIER. CEILING FABRIC INSTALLATION (LOBBY, CAF): EVENTSCAPE. PLASTIC PANELS (CONFERENCE CORRIDOR): 3FORM. TACK PANEL FABRIC (CONFERENCE ROOM, OFFICE, WORK AREAS): MAHARAM. FLOORING (CONFERENCE ROOM AND CORRIDOR, MULTIPURPOSE ROOM, CAF): TARKETT. CHAIRS (CONFERENCE ROOM, CAF): VITRA. TABLES: ERG. PENDANT FIXTURES (OFFICE AND CORRIDOR, WORK AREAS): LOUIS POULSEN LIGHTING. CUSTOM CARPET: LEES CARPETS. TASK CHAIRS (OFFICE, WORK AREAS): HERMAN MILLER. WORK-SURFACE PLASTIC LAMINATE: PANOLAM INDUSTRIES. CABINET DOOR LUMASITE: AMERICAN ACRYLIC CORP. CEILING TILE (OFFICE, WORK AREA, MULTIPURPOSE ROOM): USG CORPORATION. FILE CABINETS (WORK AREAS): REFORM. LINEAR FIXTURES (WORK AREAS), PENDANT FIXTURES (CAF): COOPER INDUSTRIES. CHAIRS (MULTIPURPOSE ROOM): HELLER. PARTITIONS: DORMA GROUP; LUNA TEXTILES (FABRIC). SKYLIGHTS (PARKING LOT): VISTAWALL GROUP. PAINT: SHERWIN-WILLIAMS COMPANY. RUBBER BASE: JOHNSONITE. MILLWORK: COLUMBIA WOODWORKING. MEP: GHT. STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: RATHGEBER/GOSS ASSOCIATES. GENERAL CONTRACTOR: HITT CONTRACTING.