BECHTEL ENVIRONMENTAL CLASSROOM
Smith College

New Construction 2014
Scope: Interior & exterior furnishings for new environmental classroom & field station for Smith College, built to meet the Living Building Challenge.
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This new building in Whately, MA is a combination environmental classroom, meeting space, and field station. It was designed to meet the Living Building Challenge, in accordance with the International Living Building Institute; it is only the 5th building anywhere to meet the world’s most demanding design and performance-based environmental building standard.

While the furnishings for the Bechtel Environmental Classroom were not required to meet the standards of the Living Building Challenge, Lorin Starr Interiors selected furnishings that had green qualities and / or were produced with a reduced environmental impact. These included furniture locally made by a millwork company using materials vetted under the Living Building Challenge; chairs made of FSC-certified plywood; aluminum stools made of 80% recycled aluminum  (the stools are 100% recyclable); outdoor furniture made of 100% post-consumer recycled material; and table tops made of 100% recycled wood fiber with laminate tops made from 100% corn and soy biopolymer.

architecture: Coldham & Hartman
photos: Ethan Drinker