Canal 5 Studio, is an architecture, planning, and interior design partnership firm, founded by Patrick Costin in 2011, with headquarters located in Portland, Maine. Canal 5 Studio is committed to advancing high-performance-built environments through designs that possess meaning, quality, and character. They have frequently transformed languish areas into dynamic, engaging, satisfying spaces while working with tight budgets and enrolling selective critical interventions. The projects that the Canal 5 Studio does meets the requirements and exhibit aspirations of clients from a range of sectors, including higher education, healthcare, institutional, commercial, and residential.
Hyatt Place
Hyatt Place, located on Fore Street, is a limited-service hotel consisting of 130 rooms, 7 storeys, 80,000 s.f. Because of the ground floor’s transparency and the building’s modern architecture, Portland’s Old Fort’s bustling street scene is engaged. The challenge of generating a drop-off area on a site with acute space restrictions was accomplished by carving out a space within the building footprint. A six-storey faceted glass corner defies the building’s stone panel siding restrictions. Canal 5 Studio integrated a high-performance rain screen system in the building’s envelope, and a roof-mounted micro-turbine provides cogeneration. Custom lighting fixtures are included in the lobby and bar.
Bates College, Chase Hall Renovation
Canal 5 Studio transformed the underused “Bobcat Den” lounge into a vibrant and appealing area for student and faculty interaction. At night, it reshapes into a bar for students while still acknowledging the custom ingrained in the structure’s nearly 100-year history. A space for university gathering for outdoor dining and entertainment was created by refurbishing the nearby outdoor patio and reconnecting it to the campus quad. The lobby and gallery areas of the building were renovated to provide a warm “front parlour” for potential students and other tourists.
Consigli Construction Office Building
Canal 5 Studio was hired to master plan the property and consider future expansion of Consigli Construction’s corporate headquarters in Milford, Massachusetts. A new two-storey office building adjacent to The Granite Building, a 19th-century Richardsonian school building that was previously disassembled somewhere in Milford and reconstructed on the location. The present-day structure combines open office work areas with shared conference rooms to encourage a collaborative and integrated approach to project management– a defining feature of Consigli’s corporate culture. For large staff gatherings, a central, two-storey atrium with skylights serves as the venue. Cementitious rain screen panels that are similar in color and design to the granite masonry in the neighboring building enclose a hybrid steel and wood structure.
Long Residence
Located in North Yarmouth, Maine Long Residence is a house with two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a loft, and a living area on the main floor. There is a space above the garage for a future third bedroom and bathroom. A wood screen and trellis surround the deck outside the kitchen, giving it privacy and some sun exposure. The structure has excellent insulation and is oriented to maximize the efficiency of any future photovoltaic panels that may be added in the future.
MaineHealth Cardiology
Canal 5 Studio renovated an existing medical office building on Maine Medical Center’s Scarborough Campus which merges the clinical operations of Maine’s two largest cardiology groups thus enabling the installation of advanced diagnostic imaging equipment, creating a comprehensive diagnostic cardiology center. A demanding year-long programming effort involving the majority of end users was directed by Canal 5 Studio. The cutting-edge practice model that resulted served as the foundation for design.
Rhum Tiki Bar and Restaurant
The client’s demanded to create a 21st-century homage to the Tiki bar esthetic featuring highly crafted rum cocktails and epicurean Tiki cuisine. Escape everyday and step into the subterranean hideout that is Rhum, located in the basement of a historic building on Free Street in Portland. Prior to being used for storage, the area faced a number of difficulties, including accessible access, egress, and constrained structural conditions. In order to integrate planning, design, culinary equipment, and permit facilitation, Canal 5 Studio used 3D modeling software, the outcome of which is enticing.
Verrill Dana Renovations
Ninety attorneys’ offices in One Portland Square in downtown Portland, Maine, have undergone a 64,000-square-foot restoration. Nine meeting rooms with capacities ranging from four to eighty seats are housed in a conference center that is anchored by a new two-storey facility on the ninth and tenth floors. A “Loungebrary” merges library resources with a staff lounge and adaptable meeting space to create a social hub for the company. Technology integration, better client convenience, and video conferencing are weaved together with new finishes, lighting, and mechanical systems. The result is a modern office space that nonetheless has the respectability and classic vibe of a veteran firm.
Backyard Farms Campus Expansion
Canal 5 Studios designed The Backyard Farms’ campus expansion including a new 21,000-SF visitors’ center, research, and development facility, along with accommodating customers and guests, coupled with additional greenhouse space, strengthens the company’s branding and marketing, and supports the grower’s agricultural research and production initiatives.
The Office of Creative Portland
The nonprofit organisation Creative Portland, which leverages, expands, and supports Portland’s creative industries, businesses, and workforce, has moved into a shell space in a public parking garage with frontage on Free Street in Portland, Maine. It will be a gathering spot for artists and creatives as well as office space for workers across the street from the Maine College of Art. With a very tight budget, the team of Canal 5 Studio proposed a minimalist palette of white walls, stained concrete floors, and gallery lighting. The remodelling encourages adaptive flexible use and art exhibitions while providing a street presence for onlookers.
EVO
EVO is located at the intersection of Fore and Union Streets in the Hyatt Place Old Port Hotel building. Canal 5 Studio used vibrant colors, dramatic lighting, and material textures to reflect the cuisine and intensify the interior look. The room is divided into two levels: the ground level, which is 1,150 square feet, and a 450 square foot mezzanine area that is directly over the service sections for the kitchen and bar. The mezzanine floor affords more traditional table seating plans. The ground-floor seating around the perimeter incorporates the dynamic geometry of the corner glass curtain-wall and offers the best vantage point for people-watching and taking in the vibrant street life of Portland. The open kitchen concept allows patrons to view food and drink preparation as it unfolds.
References:
- Projects (2022) Canal 5 Studio. Available at: https://www.canal5studio.com/projects/ (Accessed: February 24, 2023).
