NURTURE WITH NATURE

MADY BELLANCA | EK CARTER

NURTURE WITH NATURE

2021 | EXPERIMENTS IN COMMUNAL LIVING | Resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and cooperation in the fallout of COVID

David Franco | Ulrike Heine | Andreea Mihalache | George Schafer

This project is located in Fairfield, Montana about 90 miles East from the Rocky Mountains and 35 miles West from Great Falls. Fairfield is a small agricultural town of 729 people and about 16% of the population consists of single parents. Single parents naturally create a community of independently, dependent people. In this commune, single parents can reside in the space, send their children to school, and work, all under one roof. The space also caters to the Fairfield community and allows others to bring their children to grow, learn and play. This building responds to Covid-19 and the struggles of people needing to live life with others. The building combines the ideals of a commune and self-sufficiency in architecture to evaluate how space can be used to mend the consequences of the pandemic. Because the site is located in a small town, the self-sufficient commune is able to partner with the existing community to help each other flourish with added amenities that are a continuation of the existing site. This commune has a gross square footage of 184,050 SF and is organized into three modules ranging from public to semiprivate. The main accessible module includes the brewery and restaurant. It has direct access to the new commuter train that brings people to and from Great Falls. In proximity to the public module are the large barley fields, which are a continuation of the existing fields. The barley grown on site is used to brew beer at the new local brewery and its biproduct, straw, is used for

building insulation. The semi-private modules consist of two large gardens in the center. In the center module, the library and part of the school surround the garden space and allow children to use the garden as a learning opportunity. In the furthest module the gym, kitchen and living spaces, offices, school and daycare tower, and housing can be found. According to the Koppen Climate type map, Fairfield is located in a cold semi-arid climate. This location gets cold winters and hot summers. Because it receives large quantities of rain and snow, the ETFE roof can be activated to not only collect rainwater, but heat portions of the roof to allow the thick layer of snow to melt. This continues collecting water year-round, letting light into the greenhouse to continue plant production. Due to the inclement weather Montana experiences, this building is connected by a walkway on the second floor which enables access to the entire complex without exiting outdoors. The building responds to the strong winds coming from the West with a wind wall, giving the residents the freedom to open up their homes to the exterior conditions while eliminating the strong winds from entering inside. The goal for this commune is to allow single parents to live and grow together in a safe and sustainable space, encourage play for children, and give them the ability to feel connected in the existing community with a minimal impact to the existing site.

SEEKING ASYLUM

JED DONKLE | JEROME KISHORE

SEEKING ASYLUM

2021 – EXPERIMENTS IN COMMUNAL LIVING | Resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and cooperation in the fallout of COVID

David Franco | Ulrike Heine | Andreea Mihalache | George Schafer

Seeking Asylum is a temporary refugee housing community located in the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo. The project was designed in response to the growing need for safe accommodations for persons subject toa United States policy known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). This policy states that certain individuals looking to claim asylum in the United States by traveling through the Mexico border, must remain in Mexico for the duration of their immigration court case, and that Mexico will provide them with all the proper humanitarian care and relief. While in Mexico, migrants are a vulnerable population and are likely to face violent crimes such as being kidnapped by drug cartels, squalid and unsafe living conditions, and a lack of legal representation which is crucial for winning an immigration court case. Seeking Asylum attempts to address these issues by creating an environment where people can live, work, and grow together as a strong community. Seeking Asylum is a post –industrial adaptive reuse project located on the former site of the once great Hidrogenadora Nacional, S.A. De C.V. –an oil refinery that employed nearly 700 workers and is famous for the manufacturing of cooking oils, butters, and soaps. It is situated within a dense urban grid and is approximately a 25-minute walk to the Juárez –Lincoln International Bridge which is the official port of entry between Mexico(Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas) and the United States (Laredo, Texas). Nuevo Laredo has a semi-arid climate

and receives an average annual rainfall of 9”each year. During the summer months temperatures can reach as high as 102 degrees while in the winter they can be as low as 48 degrees. Under these conditions, Seeking Asylum canproduce1mWh/year by utilizing solar panels to harvest the energy from the sun, as well as collect nearly 125,000 gallons of potable drinking water from roof top rainfall collection systems. These integrated natural resource harvesting systems allow the community to fulfill 52% of their water use requirements and produce double the amount of average energy consumption for this region. Spread across the 373,000 SF lot are three different housing typologies. There is housing for unaccompanied minors, single adults, and family units. Each housing typology follows a similar model where all the private bedroom spaces are elevated off the ground, and all the open-air communal kitchen, dining, and living spaces remain on the lower level. The site is divided by an existing overpass. The space underneath and around the overpass is activated with program elements such as gymnasiums, community centers, amphitheater, and soccer field. Together these elements create a centrally located boulevard of recreation, community, and social connectivity. As a whole, Seeking Asylum is not just a place of refuge. It is a vibrant living community enriched by cross-cultural exchanges, inclusivity, and resilience.

GROWING TOGETHER UNDER ONE ROOF

THALY JIMENEZ | DANIEL MECCA

UNDER ONE ROOF

2020 – VULNERABLE CITIES, VULNERABLE POPULATIONS | Sustainable transitional housing solutions for chronically unsheltered populations in the U.S.

David Franco | Ulrike Heine | George Schafer

Growing Together Under One Roof is a transitional housing project located in Fairbanks, Alaska. The 165,309 square feet facility houses domestic violence survivors who may not have the resources needed to escape their difficult home lives. The housing complex consists of nineteen single home units and eighteen family units which were placed strategically throughout the building. The housing units are divided into private units and less private units. The private units are placed towards the back of the building where the river serves as a natural barrier to avoid public entrance. The less prive units are hidden in plain sight at the front of the building where the residents have a chance at interacting with the public. This will suit residents at different stages of the recovery process by helping them integrate slowly into the community. Additionally, programming for the local community such as a community garden, playground, library, computer lab, and vertical farming seeks to bring the nearby community together by providing neighbors of all ages with a place where they can come together and continue activities such as

cultivating crops during Fairbank’s long winter months. Due to Alaska’s geographical location, the citizens of Fairbanks find themselves facing extreme weather conditions every year which can significantly affect their daily lives, the environment around them, and their physical and mental health. The three main environmental fac-tors that played a role in the design of our project were natural light exposure, permafrost and long, freezing winter months. Extensive light exposure during summer months and low light expo-sure during winter months guided us in the placement of our units which are located along the south facade of the building. Addition-ally, artificial lighting was added as a source of lighting during winter months. ETFE bubbles on the envelope can be deflated to reduce sunlight during long summer months and provide insulation during winter. A high level of sustainability was achieved by utilizing several renewable energy sources as a strategy.

PRIDE HQ

COLIN BLAND | ADRIANNA SPENCE

PRIDE HQ

2020 | VULNERABLE CITIES, VULNERABLE POPULATIONS | Sustainable transitional housing solutions for chronically unsheltered populations in the U.S.

David Franco | Ulrike Heine | George Schafer

Pride HQ is a 33,000 square foot transitional housing development aimed at serving the population of homeless LGBTQ+ youth in Santa Cruz. LGBTQ+ is a term that identifies a larger community of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Transgender individuals; the terms Q and + include people that are questioning their sexuality as well as other identities. One-third of all LGBTQ+ youth are rejected by their families, resulting in homelessness and the absence of key relationships in their family lives and personal development. Pride HQ provides various living situations to transition LGBTQ+ youth ages 15 through 24 out of homelessness and into permanent housing. The building hosts 34 residential units in larger access controlled “neighborhoods.” These neighborhoods contain communal living spaces both indoors and outdoors while offering varying layers of visibility and protection relating to residents’ comfort levels along their journey of self-expression. The ground floor contains retail and educational spaces intended for the residents

and the surrounding residential community; this includes the college students at UC Santa Cruz and middle and high schools adjacent to the site. Pride HQ is a building that strives to affirm individual and community identity with LGBTQ+ youth. The outer screen of Pride HQ functions with the climate conditions of Santa Cruz. The screen utilizes opaque and semi-opaque panels that enclose breezeways and catwalks for circulation and reduces the need for additional climate-controlled interior spaces. The opaque wood provides shading on the South elevation while creating a physical separation between residents and the public. The perforations work in tandem with the building massing to take advantage of prevailing North to South breezes to cross-ventilate the building. The screen also incorporates climbing vegetation into the biophilic design to elevate green spaces and reintroduce vegetation into the development.

BELOVED COMMUNITY

MASON BLACKWELL | GRAY DITTENHAUSER

BELOVED COMMUNITY

2018 | AGING IN THE CITY | Architectural Strategies To Create Multigenerational Urban Communities

Dan Harding | Ulrike Heine | David Franco

Located south of Downtown Birmingham, Alabama the Beloved Community is situated as a bridge between times, people, and places. The Beloved Com-munity is a mixed-use project including over 150 residential units, a community greenhouse, market space, and a variety of both public and private court-yards. Situated next the rail line that slices through the city of Birmingham the project incorporated the use of the historic Powel Steam Plant tying into the history and role of both the rail line and steel manufacturing in the city. The project site sits at over 167,300 square feet with 1905 square feet devoted to greenhouses, 11420 to market space, 68400 for residential, and the reaming area for the central communal courtyard. The large courtyard functions to bring people from all backgrounds into the site and to link the neighboring Railroad Park and Rotary Trail. This central courtyard draws a connection to the importance of the architectural form in the city’s history. The housing units are one size fits all. The most basic unit is

200 sq ft. Which comes out to about $250/month. The unit can be expanded to accommodate the residents to waste as little money and space as possible. This is accomplished by moving the kitchens outside to be shared by many thus cutting down on cooling the units and space used. During the Civil Rights Movement protestors and prominent Civil Rights Leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were not allowed to gather or even stay in many locations around the city with the exception of the A.G. Motel. The A.G. motel featured a central courtyard that allowed prominent figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to give speeches to inspire his brothers and sisters and allowed the protestors to gather and connect with one another in a safe and enclosed space. The courtyards featured in this project seek to bring people together and offer a space accessible to all people and provide a sense of safety and community while reaching back to connect to the history of Birmingham, Alabama.