The Collaborative has released a report presenting the dozens of design concepts developed at its Industrial Sites Interim Reuse Charrette. The October 2009 charrette challenged four teams to design temporary uses for vacant industrial sites selected by the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation and the New Kensington Community Development Corporation.Volunteer firm KSK Architects Planners Historians documented project sites, researched design precedents, and facilitated the charrette.
The charrette encouraged a sense of fun and experimentation towards an often intractable problem: long-term vacant industrial lots. The designers created a range of temporary, low cost, and high impact solutions that could help reclaim, repurpose, and raise the profile of vacant industrial sites in neighborhoods in Philadelphia and other older, American cities.
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A factory in West Kensington that once produced Union army uniforms has been transformed into a state-of-the-art green jobs training center by the Energy Coordinating Agency.
The Collaborative staff recently had a personal tour of The John S. and James L. Knight Green Jobs Training Center with Walter Yakabosky, director of the training center, and Frances Cichetti of ECA. We got to see the innovative training facilities and green features of the building first-hand and explore some of our favorite topics—how to reuse industrial buildings and practice sustainability in urban neighborhoods.
ECA worked with Re: Vision Architects to turn the 19th century building into a training center with classrooms, work and demonstration spaces, and offices. The building is being considered for LEED Gold certification and has green features like a white roof, gray water recycling and excellent insulation.
Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us at the 14th Annual Bowling Ball. It was a great success and we had a blast!
300 people bowled on more than 50 lanes and over 30 lucky people took home fantastic raffle prizes, including Uchenna Okere from the PhilaNOMA team who won the coveted Berkshires Weekend Get Away prize that includes a to visit MASS MoCA and stay at The Porches Inn. We were able to raise nearly $27,000 to support our work of strengthening neighborhoods through design.
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There was some fantastic sportsmanship and awesome team spirit on the lanes. During the night session, the Pennoni Associates team rolled the top team score for the second year in a row while George of O’Donnell Naccarato had the best male individual score and Joann of Pennoni Associates rolled the top female individual score. TRF won the award for best team spirit, BWA Architecture + Planning were the best dressed and the We Don’t Give a Split! team from Bruce E. Brooks and Associates won best name. Check out all the team photos.
Philadelphia has thousands of flat roofs that lay empty soaking up the sun and collecting rain. But imagine if those roofs were transformed into vibrant farms that provided locally grown food to neighborhood residents.
That is the vision a group of neighbors, gardeners, architects, and builders had when they formed Philadelphia Rooftop Farm (PRooF) to explore the possibilities for building organic farms on residential roofs in Philadelphia.
“Rooftop farming is a natural idea once you stand on a roof looking out at all the available space. The volume of produce you could grow is exciting,” said Jay Sand, one of the founders of PRooF.
Collaborative volunteer Jim Curry, a cost estimator with Owners Rep Inc., developed a creative way to use his Community Design Collaborative bag- a garden planter.
The Collaborative recently made a trip up to Brooklyn, NY for a tour of once-abandoned factory buildings redeveloped by Greenpoint Manufacturing & Design Center (GMDC) for use by new, small manufacturing businesses. Locally, GMDC teamed up with the Women’s Community Revitalization Project to serve as a client for Infill Philadelphia: Industrial Sites. GMDC and WCRP wanted to explore possibilities for re-purposing a cluster of industrial buildings on Oxford Street as a mixed-use development that combines affordable housing with space for fabrication.
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Win a trip to North Adams, MA to visit MASS MoCA and stay at the Porches Inn.
Ever dream of running the bases at the Phillies stadium? Want to get away for a weekend and check out modern art in an idyllic old mill town in the mountains? With the raffle prizes at the Community Design Collaborative’s Bowling Ball you have a chance to do all that and more.
This year’s raffle prizes are full of exciting trips, delicious foods and exquisite items for your home. The Berkshires Weekend GetAway package will take you to scenic North Adams, MA with tickets to MASS MoCA, the nation’s largest museum of contemporary art, and an overnight stay at the Porches Inn- a collection of cleverly renovated 1890s row houses.
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