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Unbuilt Architecture
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**** Honor Award ****
**** Jury Special Commendation **** |
Resilient Roots
(# 239) |
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| Completion |
NA |
| Specific Use of Building |
Sustainable agricultural facility and farm student housing |
| Project Location |
Allensworth, CA |
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Resilient Roots supports Allensworth’s well-being, independence, and growth. It addresses the town’s historical lack of facilities and aims to bring the community opportunities to flourish by embracing equity, resilience, and decarbonization.
As the main entry to the community, the market space is the welcoming porch of Allensworth. The “porch” is dedicated to resolving food scarcity and hosting community events. The market provides the community with fresh produce harvested onsite.
Resiliency in a town with such a strenuous socio-economic background comes from empowering users to live healthy lives, battle environmental concerns, and create social capital opportunities.
Building resilient communities starts with community health, providing access to nutritious foods, and encouraging healthy lifestyles. The greenhouse offers enough fresh vegetables to make thirty-five bowls of salad daily, as measured by our MEP engineers. Research has also shown that breathing air inside a greenhouse can significantly benefit those impacted by poor air quality. A walking trail transects the site in quarter-mile, half-mile, and mile-long loops to encourage residents to exercise and bike. Rest stops along the walkways provide shade and fresh water from dehumidified air. Hedges of native plants are located throughout the site, filtering the air.
Allensworth’s extreme weather creates many challenges for the town, from hot, humid summers, droughts, flooding, and bog. Our site strategically combats these challenges. When earth is removed to build walls, low spots in the ground create opportunities for retention ponds to hold stormwater. Both the housing and lab buildings have raised floors to prevent flooding. Raised exterior walkways ensure buildings remain accessible during heavy rain or floods. Deep overhangs provide sun protection on the south façade, while operable louvers maximize airflow. During extreme heat, the training rooms open and become a cooling center that energizes the battery system for use during power outages. Each residential unit is designed to be functional off the grid, with passive ventilation and solar water heaters.
Arsenic soils are turned and compacted into rammed earth walls that create gathering places, capture heat to temper buildings, and provide relief from the wind. Where soil remains in place, specialized plants are sown to reenergize the soil.
Resiliency also means creating ways to counteract drought conditions. Water is recycled from showers and sinks to water hedges. Plants are only placed in strategic locations, such as hedges, that purify the air and benefit the soil. Dehumidifiers are used throughout the site to collect and recycle water for plants.
Maximizing the town’s resilience involves creating economic opportunities. The sustainable site will attract visitors to Resilient Roots, where they can learn about the town’s history while seeing the latest advancements in sustainable farming and enjoy a fresh bowl of salsa made from produce harvested onsite. Visitors can also charge their electric vehicles at the site’s EV chargers, powered by the site itself.
This integrated system embodies equity, decarbonization, and resilience strategies that foster a sense of nurturing and belonging for all of Allensworth. |
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