Public Administrative Facility

Methuen Housing Authority in Methuen, Massachusetts, needed to expand its administrative space. CBSI supplied the right building at a lower cost and in under half the time projected by the municipality.

METHUEN HOUSING AUTHORITY ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES
4,800-square-foot permanent modular building

Architectural Excellence:

CBSI entered into a joint design venture with Jeffrey J. Cook Architects, Inc., to develop a 4,800-square-foot (60'-by-80') modular administration building for the Methuen Housing Authority [MHA] located in Methuen, MA. A self-contained facility, the modular building incorporates several distinct areas: spaces for tenant interviews & relations, lobby & reception, filing & storage, and accounting, plus conference rooms and a director's office. The spacious interior features pass-through glass windows integrated with private interview cubicles. The receptionist has a panoramic view of the lobby through a 6-by-4-foot viewing window. The exterior blends with the surroundings by utilizing large 5-by-5-foot sliding windows and store-front full-glass doors. The main architectural feature is the site-installed hip-style shingled roof with a 5:12 pitch, 16-foot-high roof peak, and 4-foot perimeter overhang. The main entrance features a 16-foot-wide-by-8-foot-deep gable-style canopy roof with 14-inch-diameter Doric-style columns.

Technical Innovations:

A site-applied hip-style truss roof system adds a new dimension to the factory-manufactured modules. Sporting a 5:12 roof slope, the wood trusses span 60 feet while the roof ridge projects 16 feet above the modular building wall assemblies. The 4-foot roof overhang on all four sides provides adequate soffit space for wall-washer security lighting.

The Methuen facility incorporates several high-density storage and file rooms with a minimum of 125 PSF floor live load. An integrated rolling file system required that the modular floor system be very rigid. CBSI utilized direct application of double 3/4-inch plywood flooring to the steel chassis cross-members, to obtain the required floor live loads.

Cost Effectiveness / Energy Efficiency:

The MHA knew that a comparable site-built structure would normally take a year to build. CBSI obtained a certificate of occupancy in only 165 days after award of contract.

Strict energy codes required a high-performance, conforming building envelope. CBSI provided all low-E glass windows and doors, R-19 insulation on exterior walls, 4-inch R-30 rigid roof insulation, and 6-inch R-19 floor insulation. Tyvek® energy building wrap under the vinyl siding also added to the building envelope performance. The building is equipped with a split air-conditioning/hydro-air heating system. Located in the site-built attic, four air handlers provide heat and cooling to the zoned offices below. Utilizing natural gas as a fossil fuel, the hydro-air system is powered by a computer-monitored and -regulated hot-water boiler for superior efficiency.

Electronic ballasts and T-8 fluorescent lighting will cut energy costs, while MA standard 1.5-gallon water closets will conserve water consumption.

Tyvek is a registered trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.