Environmental Design

Posted On January 9, 2020

This project consisted of designing a sustainable business out of a shipping container that could easily be moved from one location to another. My business that I was assigned was a sustainable massage therapy practice. The objective was for the business to run fully on the generation of its own power and water supply. The idea of this project was to locate the shipping container in one of the open grass spaces on MSU campus for students to be able to use the service provided between classes.

Some environmental design features that I included in my design are:

  • rooftop solar panels facing south for maximum sun exposure.
  • water catchment system from the rain gutters.
  • Day lighting through the use of large front windows, small upper windows in the back and a skylight.
  • proper airflow transfer through the use of opening windows and skylight.
  • Use of all natural and sustainable materials.
  • Energy saving lighting.
  • Living wall.

My work consisted of a business model, floor plans, elevations, section details, and computer renderings which were all done on Revit.

Floor Plan of Massage Therapy Business.
Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment Plan of the Interior space. All materials are sustainable excluding furniture.
Furniture, Fixtures, & Equipment of the Rooftop space. The rooftop is designed as a place where clients can go above and stretch and do yoga before or after massage as an additional feature. There are also a few planters located above to create privacy.
Exterior Elevations to show different materials used on the exterior. Two sides of the container are covered with recycled corrugated metal and the other two sides are covered in recycled plastics designed to look like wood plank that have vines growing vertically up the sides.
This is a 3D perspective of the exterior that shows the entrance with a foldable ADA compliant ramp, and signage of the business name “Align Massage Therapy”.
This is a section cut to show the interior layout. The back wall is a living wall which has light coming through from the skylight above and can be watered with the water collected from the roof and into the barrels three seasons of the year.
Backside 3D perspective to show water catchment, pop-out storage space directly below barrels and ladder access to rooftop.

Thats all for my environmental design project. It was a fun and challenging project that required a lot of critical thinking on how to make the business sustainable, functional and yet aesthetically pleasing. Thanks for reading!

-Jocelyn 🙂

Related Posts