When opening a location, architects at the burrito-rolling, avocado-mashing Mexican restaurant ask, "How green can we be?"
The chain used the oldest green building technique available -- recycling an existing structure -- at its newest Richmond-area location. The store, set to open Friday, is on West Broad Street across from The Shops at Willow Lawn.
The building got a complete makeover after its former tenant, Fuqua Sheffield Flowers Gifts, moved to a new location two blocks away.
"It turned out to be a good deal for us," said Michael Ulm, a regional design manager for Chipotle who worked on the project. "We didn't have to tear one down and put one up -- that increased the greenness of the building.
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Chipotle designers rehabilitated the Broad Street structure, which dates to the 1950s, to meet the demands of a restaurant (the interior has red walls and stainless-steel decor) while being easy on the environment.
The chain's design team incorporates the principles of sustainable architecture. The company retained about 40 percent of the original Fuqua Sheffield Florist building, including the brick facade and the patio.
Like many of Chipotle's metallic-themed eateries, the 3,100-square-foot building will consume less electricity than a typical building its size. The lights are energy efficient and include motion sensors so they don't run when rooms are vacant.
The sinks dispense little water, and the paints and wall coverings are water-based lacquer that is less harmful to the environment.
Many of the building materials come from recycled products.
In a typical Chipotle restaurant, about 60 percent to 90 percent of the interior is recycled steel and 100 percent recycled drywall, the company said.
Scott Shippey, director of design for the Denver-based restaurant chain, said Chipotle tries to match its buildings to its culinary approach.
"The food has really simple ingredients, but the way it's brought together in recipes, it's elevated to great food," he said. "We could have built some cheesy-themed restaurant, with som breros and burros over in a corner, instead it's on this more subtle level. It makes business sense, too, to bring down utility costs; a win-win.
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The company typically spends about $900,000 in construction costs for each new restaurant. A company spokeswoman said the new location probably cost about that.
Shippey said building green doesn't really cost that much more, thus a reason why the chain decided to rehab the Fuqua and Sheffield building rather than tear it down.
"We know what our construction budget looks like, and we ask, 'What can we do with those dollars?'"
Renovating an existing structure is a "green" thing to do, said Josh Bennett, a project manager with Moseley Architects, a firm that designs green municipal buildings but does not work with Chipotle.
"There's less work to do constructing the building from an existing one -- less raw materials being produced for the project," Bennett said.
About 60 percent of the chain's new locations modify existing structures, the company said.
Chipotle, which opened its first restaurant in Denver in 1993, now operates 530 locations. In the Richmond area, it has restaurants on West Broad Street near the Innsbrook Corporate Center, near Short Pump Town Center, in Virginia Center Station Shopping Center, in Stony Point Fashion Park and on Rittenhouse Drive in Chesterfield County.
Green builders try to reduce carbon emissions during the construction process and once the building is operational.
But as much as the chain tries to cut back on carbon emissions, its other area locations are all difficult if not impossible to reach without a car.
Bennett said that while the company seems to set up shop in automobile-friendly areas, the new Broad Street location is close to several neighborhoods and accessible by public transportation.
"A societal change would be in order not to have to drive to all those places. They have to go where the business is," Bennett said. "Architecturally, it fits into the fabric of the neighborhood.
It's to the size of what already existed there."
Building green is rare within the commercial restaurant industry.
The Fuqua Sheffield building is the first project of its kind in the area for the chain.
The five other locations were built from the ground up.
The building wasn't tweaked but gutted and rebuilt, said Debbie Piero, who has worked at the florist for a longtime
She said some of the building's systems -- such as plumbing -- needed overhauling. And even though she misses the building, she has no hard feelings.
Fuqua Sheffield is still in business. It moved two blocks away to 4911 W. Clay St.
more than a year ago.
"My employees are happy about it because they want to eat there. I'll probably eat there, too," Piero said.
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