The Response
Choosing furniture for the Bullitt Center was a challenging and lengthy process as the project team carefully considered aesthetics, costs and functionality—along with Red List exclusions, life cycle and other criteria of the LBC. One of three manufacturers to be vetted, Teknion ultimately provided six products: Expansion Desking, Audience meeting tables and Fitz task seating were selected to furnish Point32’s open-plan workspace on the fourth floor; Livello adjustable tables, Visio task seating and District credenzas furnished the offices of the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) on the first floor. Note: ILFI is the progenitor of the LBC and the entity that will measure the building’s performance.
Although the LBC’s mandatory performance areas or “petals” (site, water, energy, health, material, equity and beauty) do not address furniture specifically, Bullitt Foundation President and CEO Denis Hayes, and the project team, felt that furniture was key to indoor air quality and the health and well-being of people who occupy the Bullitt Center. Thus, manufacturers were required to provide full disclosure with regard to the material content of furniture, as well as paints, finishes, trims, etc. Teknion’s ability to provide 100 percent transparency was an important factor in the selection of its products.
On the fourth floor of the Bullitt Center building, home to Point32, Expansion Desking was used to create workstation clusters. Each was placed within 30 feet of one of the Center’s expansive windows to provide all workers with a view—the city of Seattle or distant Cascade Mountains to the east. The windows admit sufficient daylight to reduce the electricity required for ambient and task lighting, and Expansion Desking low-height workstations make the most of the natural light flowing into and through the workspace. White and light-colored faux wood surfaces maintain a clean, contemporary look that harmonizes with the architectural aesthetic.
Workstations on the fourth floor were supplied with Fitz task seating and the conference room and meeting rooms with Audience tables. Like Expansion Desking, Audience tables do not have a NAUF core (no added urea formaldehyde) and are edged with ABS, rather than PVC, bands.
ILFI takes up a portion of the first floor, which it shares with the Cascadia Green Building Council. The ILFI workspace is furnished in part with Livello tables and District credenzas, a low landscape that permits visual contact among workers and with the out-of-doors. Visio task chairs provide a fresh, modern look and comfortable seat. The height-adjustable Livello worktables are fitted with linoleum tops (rather than laminate), edged with ABS bands and equipped with a hand-crank adjustment mechanism. Although a switch mechanism is available on Livello tables, even the minimal electrical draw of such a device is a consideration as electricity use is continually measured for each tenant, and each plug.
The Teknion products specified for the Bullitt Center provide an affordable, flexible furniture solution that supports client goals and will remain relevant over the long term, thereby helping to ensure a long life cycle, with less waste and less resource depletion. The combined efforts of the client, architect, dealer and Teknion ensure a safe, humane and beautiful setting for work, a place that ill support employee engagement, performance and well-being, and a community asset that will provide an incentive for market transformation.
Expansion Desking was used to create workstation clusters. Each was placed within 30 feet of one of the Center’s expansive windows to provide all workers with a view—the city of Seattle or distant Cascade Mountains to the east.