Happy Hour + Project Site Visit at Fast Forward Space at R. House

BKM gathered for a happy hour and project-in-progress tour of our project “Fast Forward Space at R. House.” Conveniently located within the same complex as R. House’s modern food hall, employees were able to go in groups to visit the site’s construction and see their designs come to life.

The designs were completed in November, 2016, and the space is scheduled to be occupied this August. The construction management is led by Gilbane, Inc.; Design Collective, Inc. provided the architectural design.

Project Highlights

BKM provided mechanical and electrical design services for the tenant fit-out of approximately 9,900-square feet of space within R. House located at 301 West 29th Street. For use by Johns Hopkins University programming, the $2.7-million-dollar fit-out is comprised of offices, specialized labs, and support spaces.

Seven wet and dry labs are served by a 100% outside air rooftop unit. Additional spaces included: a shared wet lab space, two conference rooms, 11 offices, copy/print support space, a shared kitchen/pantry, open office spaces, storage space, and IT/LAN room. Designs incorporated central RO water, compressed air, and laboratory vacuum systems, point-of-use acid neutralization at each lab drain, and a gas-fired emergency generator

Mechanical and electrical designs adhere to Baltimore International Green Construction Code (IgCC) requirements. Glycol run-around loop provides heat recovery to the lab exhaust air for a more sustainable design. Energy analysis was done to prove that the gas-fired hot water boiler for terminal reheat used in the design was the more sustainable and more economical option. Integrated lighting and HVAC controls in both the space and at each exhaust hood to safely reduce lab airflow during unoccupied times and save additional energy and utility costs.

Because the labs were designed to fit the start-up atmosphere of the space, the power systems were designed to be robust enough to support the wide range of unique technology and equipment any tenant may need for their specific field. This meant providing in each lab an unusual number of options when it came to voltage configurations, power capacities, and electrical connection locations. The IgCC required several new panels for segregating the loads into different types of energy usage (for metering). This caused the need to be creative with the limited space available in the electrical room. To accommodate this the transformers were structurally hung from the ceiling. Light levels were provided per the IES while improving upon energy code requirements by over 10%. Additionally, electrical designs were well planned out due to the construction of the base building during initial field surveys for the space.