Wire Belt Company of America – Bedford, NH

The Wire Belt, Bedford, NH project involved the conversion of a 100,000SF vacant Walmart into a headquarters and manufacturing building. Dennis Mires, The Architects and Sullivan Construction helped design a net-zero concept for the site and striking building concept and carried the concept through Town approvals. Wire Belt carried the high-level sustainability goals to this new relocation site which resulted in bolstering the existing building insulation values via wrapping the existing masonry walls with insulated metal panels. Daylighting the production areas with clerestory windows, daylighting the offices by cutting openings in between the existing front of house separation walls, and the use of a VRF heat pump system for the offices were also key upgrades. A new patio was built off the employee meeting / break room for interior and exterior dining space. A 2300+ solar panel array providing nearly a megawatt of renewable power was installed on the roof to offset the manufacturing electrical loads of the building. Lastly the use of their own wire belts were designed into the front entry façade of the facility as a sun controlling device in front of the lobby windows. Design Build highly sustainable adaptive reuse project.