Photo: Olivier Koning
THE WORD
Mediterranean Revival and Italian Renaissance architecture meets sustainability in the modern age.
Historic Improvement Whose to say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Completed in 1929, the Historic Dillingham Transportation Building has undergone a renovation to bring its classic Mediterranean Revival/ Italian Renaissance architecture into the modern age of sustainability. The project was a complete commercial tenant improvement of the first floor and attached mezzanine space of the building. Restored for the Hau‘oli Mau Loa Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting youth education and local environmental sustainability, Hawaii Architecture worked to retain the critical and timeless historical treatments, namely the historic faux ceiling treatments, while introducing contemporary solutions for partition walls that allow natural light to pour deep into the space. To accomplish this, the firm innovated an interior light shelf, creating a soft glowing lid, which for most purposes precludes the necessity for any artificial lighting during normal business hours. From the flooring to the paint and framing materials, only sustainable or rapidly renewable materials were considered. In addition, the dated mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems were upgraded with energy efficient systems including temperature controlled HVAC, natural light and occupancy sensored lighting systems, as well as efficient low flow plumbing fixtures. In addition to dealing with the sensitivity of a space listed on the National Historic Registry, Hawaii Architecture is in the final phases of obtaining a possible LEED Platinum certification for the project, which is the highest level of LEED certification available and the most stringent sustainable accreditation certificate in the building industry.