Evolution of an Enterprise, Chapter 27: GRN:BOX

Jason Mitchell and Michael Mardis are usually partners, but this time they’re competitors.

Mitchell and Mardis, proprietors of design firm theworkshop 308, are two of four finalists in the GRN:BOX competition, sponsored by the Young Architects Forum and meant to bring unique recycling bins to downtown Springfield.

Mitchell and Mardis each have a horse in the race. There will be only one winner, and the winners’s bin design may be produced and displayed throughout downtown.

Without a hint of competitive vigor, however, Mardis coolly dismissed the idea that he and Mitchell are trying to beat each other for the opportunity. He said they’re simply honored to be finalists.

“The purpose of the competition is to bring the design community together for a common goal,” Mardis said. “I’ll be fine with whoever wins.”

Birth of the box

Mitchell and Mardis submitted two of the 11 GRN:BOX entries. Josh Harrold of Dake-Wells Architecture and Shane Hood of Selser Schaefer Architects in Tulsa, Okla., are the other finalists.

“It’s in line with what we’re wanting to do, as far as bringing awareness (to) the importance of thinking in a more sustainable, lower-impact way,” said Mitchell, making reference to the mission of his company at 301 N. Main St.

Young Architects Forum, a mentoring organization, initiated the competition in the spring when it contacted city officials. Emily Harrold, Josh Harrold’s wife, and Ryan Faust are co-coordinators of the contest, Emily Harrold said.

Josh and Emily Harrold are architectural interns for Dake-Wells Architecture, and Faust is an architectural intern for Jack Ball & Associates Architects.

Faust and Emily Harrold contacted Barbara Lucks and Phil Broyles of Springfield Public Works and Barb Baker of the Downtown Springfield Community Improvement District to get approval for GRN:BOX.

Naming a winner

After a winner is crowned, the city has the right to produce recycling bins based on the winning design. If the city chooses to do that, it’ll be on its dime, but the city isn’t obligated to do anything.

“It’s an experiment,” Emily Harrold said. “It’s about the possibilities of giving a designer the opportunity to be innovative, create ideas and get them in front of an audience.”

Renderings for the 11 entries were displayed on Commercial Street during the Aug. 3 First Friday. A four-member jury – Broyles, Councilwoman Mary Collette, architect Matthew Hufft and Urban Districts Alliance Executive Director Rusty Worley – selected three of the finalists, including Mitchell and Mardis, and a public vote decided a fourth finalist.

“What I really liked was the dual function of the structures,” said Broyles, assistant director of Public Works, about the designs submitted by Mitchell and Mardis.

Mitchell’s design features a bike rack and an educational billboard, while Mardis’ design includes a map and directory of center city businesses. Harrold’s submission doubles as a bench, and Hood’s is shaped like an egg.

Young Architects Forum is providing $500 to each finalist to build a prototype. Funding is being supplied by sponsors American Detection Specialists Inc., American Institute of Architects, Commercial Club of Springfield, Dynamic Earth, G. Stephen Stufflebam CPA PC, Webster University and U.S. Green Building Council Missouri Heartland chapter.

The prototypes were supposed to be displayed during downtown’s September First Friday Art Walk, but that’s been pushed back until spring, Emily Harrold said.

The winner will receive prize money, though the amount has yet to be determined, Harrold said. Also, it’s undetermined how, if at all, the winner will be involved in mass-production should that occur.