Emerge Dallas

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Our Re:Vision Dallas competition entry

 

The complex problem presented by Re:Vision Dallas demanded an interdisciplinary response leveraging knowledge and experience in a range of fields. Various Architects gathered and led a team of 27 individuals which included architects, engineers of nearly every sort, sustainability consultants, landscape architects, permaculturists, and educators. While our proposal is ambitious, it is also grounded in the expertise and experience of these individuals. In other words, it is feasible. While many of the ideas are unique, they have been carefully considered and our team has the requisite expertise to execute the project in a productive collaboration with the client and the city of Dallas.

 

The result of this collaborative effort is a carbon-negative housing scheme that uses a combination of simple environmental principles to create 537 unique apartments with a strong sense of community, urban vegetable gardens, zero-wastewater, great daylight, natural ventilation, passive heating and cooling, and massive 1.46 mW of solar pv power generation.

 

The project is focused around the east-west flowing Green Canyon and the rammed earth community and education center. This green corridor features a greywater treatment river, a landscape of fruit trees, nut trees, and native grasses. At ground level there is pedestrian access to 7,000m2 of commercial space dedicated to sustainable businesses, education, wellness. 50% of the space is connected to live-work spaces that reduce the occupants reliance on the automobile. The housing units themselves vary from 3 bedroom flats over two levels to small co-housing apartments with common kitchen and dining facilities that foster community and make more efficient use of resources than individuals living alone. All of the apartments in the project are double-aspect with window openings on two sides for good daylighting and cross-ventilation. The apartments are divided into vertical communities that center around garden spaces which also double as community gathering areas. Each apartment has more than 5m2 of vegitable garden space allotted for personal use, and access to larger communal gardens. The 120m tall triangular tower has an exoskeleton of pre-cast concrete with a high fly ash content, this allows us to build each four floor apartment section out of carbon friendly structural timber with a straw-bale exterior making the tower the world's tallest straw-bale structure. The southern and middle blocks are constructed in a similar manner, but with a steel bracing frame for support.

 

Winning projects at the Re:Vision Dallas website.

• Links
• Re:Vision Dallas
• EXTERNAL LINK