In addition to the eclectic shops, there are three restaurants in Arcade Providence—a coffee shop and two bar/restaurants—which give the upstairs tenants some convenient food options. The restaurants, Abbott notes, are three- or four-bays wide. “We actually broke through walls and made them bigger. They also open up to the outside so customers can come directly in from the outside as opposed to only coming in through the mall,” he says. “We did that so we could close down the mall at night for our people living above, but the restaurants can stay open later.”
The 17 pop-up shops rent for about $1,000 per month. Abbott says there are a few retailers actually living above their shops. “When you build a 2,000-square-foot retail store that rents for $4,000 a month, you’ve got to be a big, fat, ongoing operation to pay that kind of rent,” Abbott notes. “Because they’re startups, they’re trying new things and some of them just don’t make it. There has been more turnover, and we even have a couple of vacancies. It’s still a little bit of work to get that to really function.”
21st-century Amenities
Obviously, a small apartment or retail space is going to be more energy efficient than a large space, but Abbott says the team also made a concerted effort to focus on energy efficiency while retrofitting Arcade Providence. For example, each unit has its own, independent, mini-split system for individual and efficient heat and air conditioning.
The atrium space, which was the most expensive area to heat and cool, now is naturally ventilated. “We took four panels out of the skylight and put in these huge exhaust fans, and that’s how we deal with the environment in the atrium,” Abbott says. “We don’t air condition it. We just bring in outside air that we’ve conditioned and then exhaust or pump air in, depending on what the temperature need is. If it’s a warm day, we turn those on, and they suck out like 200,000 cubic feet of air every hour.”
Sound mitigation was important to the team. Abbott notes that at one time his firm’s office was housed on Arcade Providence’s third floor and the food court was distracting during its 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. rush. To mitigate sound traveling from the new retail spaces to the second- and third-floor micro-lofts, the team built fronts on every store, so sound stays inside the retail or restaurant space. “Now every one of the retail spaces and restaurants has a storefront, a little shop window, a bay window with a door and the like, so that really cuts down on the sound,” Abbott says. “It’s actually really quiet inside, so we had to add a little music just to make it not too quiet!”
Recognition
The project took a bit longer than the team anticipated. “We went through about a year of planning, doing all this investigation and coming up with plans and getting all of our approvals,” Abbott recalls. “Then about two- thirds of the way through construction, we had contractor problems, so we had to hire another contractor to finish.”
Despite a few early bumps, the project has received many accolades. These awards from industry peers, along with the building’s success, assure Abbott the small living idea is replicable. “We were so excited to receive the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Preservation Honor Award,” Abbott recalls. “It’s wonderful that people actually recognize what a great project this is, and that’s what’s rewarding. Honestly, I think we should be building these things all over the place. We’ve taken an old, tired dog and really made it into a building for the next century.”
Retrofit Team
Architect: Northeast Collaborative Architects LLC, Providence, R.I.
Mechanical Engineer: J. Madison Inc., Exeter, R.I.
Electrical Engineer: Creative Environment Corp., East Providence, R.I.
Structural Engineer: Structures Workshop Inc., Providence
General Contractor: Evan Granoff
Materials
Carpet: Shaw Contract
Tile: Daltile
Upholstery: Arc-Com Fabrics Inc.
Awnings: L.F. Pease Co.
Lighting: Rejuvenation Lighting
Door Hardware: Schlage
Blinds: Springs Window Fashions
Windows: Pella
PHOTOS: Ben Jacobsen, courtesy Northeast Collaborative Architects LLC