Abstract |
Harvest Village, in Oxford, Ohio, is a Net-Zero energy ecological community located adjacent to the former Maude Marshall elementary school which has been redeveloped into the new Sowing Seeds Academy. The master plan for our project envisions a synergistic relationship between our proposed housing community and the school as an integrative and holistic experience for students, faculty and residents alike. This unique connection is strengthened by an innovative pollinator prairie, planted with a diverse mix of native flowers and grasses, enriching the greater ecosystem of the surrounding community by inviting the appearance of native birds, a bee population essential to food production, and a dynamic butterfly habitat. This also provides a unique opportunity for outdoor education and passive enjoyment with walking trails and informational signage that extend to connect the school to the Harvest Village community. Our project works to build off of recent efforts to make Oxford a Pollinator City, which is being developed by students in the Department of Architecture and the Institute for Environment and Sustainability at Miami University. Our attached housing community also aspires to be energy efficient, reduce embodied carbon and promote effective and efficient water use. We have designed a variety of housing sizes to encourage a diverse mix of community members interested in experiencing engaged community living in a regenerative landscape environment. Students focusing on architecture, engineering and sustainability have come together to propose this collaborative design focusing on ten distinct disciplines including energy performance, engineering, financial feasibility and affordability, resilience, architecture, operations, market potential, comfort and environmental quality, and innovation.
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