IDEAS | landscape architecture / planning / urban design

The Organic Food Garden at Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton California is an 1,110 square foot garden designed in 2007-8 as part of the landscape for the new Michael J. Homer Science and Student Life Center. The food garden is so successful that it has been expanded to include an additional 9,000 square feet in another location on campus. The overall project is LEED platinum certified and has won several awards including the 2010 AIA Top Ten Green Projects. Marco Esposito was the project principal, and talked to me about his experience designing the garden, and lessons learned.

Q. What were the primary goals related to the agriculture program?

A. The garden is located in a high-profile area of the campus, so the concern was to have it look good whether planted, fallow or overgrown.

Q. Can you describe the design of the garden?

A. It is located in a sunny south-facing location, within a simple, tidy framework of walks (on sun side) and broadleaf evergreen hedges (backdrop on non-sun side). It is in a high-profile area, flanking the dining room and adjacent outdoor terrace, such that the food garden is highlighted but not in the way. We recommended that the least tidy crops, such as tall grains that can tip over, be planted in lower profile locations.

Q. Were there any concerns from the client about the agriculture program? How did you address them?

A. Sacred Heart had had a food garden before this project, but it was untidy and the leadership was concerned about creating a new un-tidy garden. We provided a simple framework for the food garden – a 140′ long rectangle of soil, 8′ wide, between a concrete walk and a waist-high broadleaf evergreen hedge – where 90 degree row crops of varying widths could be planted. Whether the soil is bare after harvesting, or whether the garden is overgrown, the framework is strong enough that any condition is acceptable.

Q. Who will manage the garden?

A. The garden is maintained and operated by students and faculty as part of its Environmental Science and Global Studies courses.

Q. Who will eat the food from the garden?

A. The food feeds the faculty, staff and students in the on-campus dining facilities, and is also donated to local charities.

Q. What infrastructure was needed for the garden?

A. 18″ of organic top soil, and pop-up spray irrigation.

Q. Were there any permitting issues?

A. There were no issues for construction. However, the school had to work the County Health Services to get approval to serve food grown on campus. According to a school press release “…the school is the first in San Mateo County to be approved by the Department of Environmental Health Services Division to use fruits and vegetables grown in its own organic garden for preparation and food service in its school cafeteria.”

Q. Any last insights on edible landscape design for campuses?

A. Keep it simple, and modest in proportion to surrounding permanent framework – having it look neat increases acceptance by all.

SWA Project Team: Marco Esposito, Lyn Liu, Travis Theobald

Project Lead: LMS Architects

Consultants: ISC – Irrigation

Photo Credit: Tom Fox, SWA Group

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Posted by EllenBurke
in Urban Agriculture
on 21 January, 2012

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The nationwide movement to include agriculture as a landscape amenity in some suburbs makes edible gardening the ‘new golf’ according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. Joe Runco, of SWA Group, offers his insights into planning for edibles in the suburban context. Read the full article here.

Posted by EllenBurke
in Urban Agriculture
on 21 January, 2012

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Two pro-bono projects at a local urban farm support community food-security efforts and explore farm ecology and aesthetics. The Alameda Point Collaborative (APC) Urban Farm sits on one-acre of a former Naval Air Station in Alameda, CA. Closed in 1993, portions of the military base have been converted to other uses, including the Alameda Point… Read more »

Two pro-bono projects at a local urban farm support community food-security efforts and explore farm ecology and aesthetics.

The Alameda Point Collaborative (APC) Urban Farm sits on one-acre of a former Naval Air Station in Alameda, CA. Closed in 1993, portions of the military base have been converted to other uses, including the Alameda Point Collaborative, a supportive housing community that provides homes, job training and other services to formerly homeless families.

The farm initiative grew out of a food community assesment that found widespread difficulty in obtaining nutritious and fresh food due to availability and cost. In 2008, following these findings, the farm was created on the site of a former park, and now offers a CSA style weekly produce delivery service, and sells at a farm stand and to local restaurants. In addition the farm produces and sells eggs & honey, and is developing two aquaculture ponds for raising fish. The farm is a highly successful example of a community food security project, leveraging local engagement and dedicated leadership.

Two new/upcoming pro-bono projects at the farm propose architectural and landscape solutions to increase productivity, integrate ecology and aid production.

Studios Archicture’s San Franciso office has designed a multi-purpose barn that will provide an area for vegetable washing, storage, office space and bike parking. The barn is designed using salvaged materials, including shipping containers from companies at the nearby port and metal panels recycled from the 2009 AIA convention. A butterfly roof allows for future rainwater collection. The barn project is awaiting funding for completion.

In collaboration with Studios and the farm managers, SWA designed a series of ‘farmscapes’, landscape projects that address aesthetic and ecological conditions on the farm, including a windbreak along the north fence and cover cropping in the olive orchard.

Along the street frontage, a narrow planting strip between the fence and curb was overgrown with weeds, and targeted for improvements. The physical constraints of the space suggested a ‘hedgerow’ – mixed planting of various heights that provides year round habitat and food sources for pollinators and beneficial insects. Based on research by the Yolo County Land Trust, the hedgerow design overlaps flowering periods, ensuring that something is always in bloom and thus supports native insects who will in turn support the farm’s productivity. On a weekend in early April, a volunteer group gathered to install the first phase of the hedgerow. It will be exciting to see it grow and to monitor the developign ecology at the farm’s edge.

These projects at the APC farm are one example of the ways that design professionals can engage and support the efforts of local, urban food production.

This is a slightly modified version of a post originally published on GrowCity, May 2, 2011.

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Posted by EllenBurke
in Urban Agriculture
on 21 January, 2012

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While agriculture seems to be trendier than ever before, the US is still losing 2 acres of farmland to development every minute. Some estimate that by 2050 we’ll have only .6 acres of farmland per person, even though our current diets require 2.6 acres. SWA is an advocate for the integration and inclusion of food-producing… Read more »

Posted by JoeRunco
in Urban Agriculture
on 21 January, 2012

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Opportunities abound for engineering encounters between guests and their food in the landscape – a breakfast orangerie where fruit is freshly plucked for juice, courtyard gardens planted in orchards of nuts and fruits, herbal lawns at the spa, a poolside planted with date palms. Many hotels are integrating local and on-site food production in a… Read more »

Many hotels are integrating local and on-site food production in a range of innovative ways, to draw in guests and enrich their experience. From roof-top vegetable gardens to bee-keeping, on-site goats, curing meats and homemade wine, these hotels are fully explore the relationship between local food production and hospitality.

Articles such as this one in the New York Times feature urban hotels that make more of the produce than just an ingredient. Some of the most intriguing strategies include the Elysian Hotel in Chicago that not only serves a local farm-based menu created around available produce, but also leases land at the Heritage Prairie Farm to grow specialty vegetables and keep bees.

Such a partnership benefits the hotel (chefs and bartenders request heirloom vegetables for signature menu items) but also, presumably, the farm which has a guaranteed income from the hotel while keeping the land in production. In this way the hotel’s buying practices become a form of activism that conserves working farmlands near urban areas.

Another partnership worth noting also takes place in Chicago, where the Marriott Downtown uses honey from their rooftop hives to create a special beer, made in partnership with a local brewer. Again, while the hotel gets a unique item to market, the brewery might benefit from a dedicated revenue stream.

One hospitality/agricultural project on the boards at SWA is the St. Regis Napa Valley. Tucked behind rolling hills, the resort – a combination of 175 hotel rooms, cottages, hillside units and 70 estate dwellings, will blend seamlessly into the landscape on a small portion of the Stanly Ranch winery. The masterplan calls for 50% of the site to remain in open space, 40% of that in working agriculture.

This is a slightly modified version of a post originally published on GrowCity, November 1, 2010.

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Posted by EllenBurke
in Arts and Culture, Urban Agriculture
on 21 January, 2012

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The 2008 SWA Fellowship project urban agriculture – Farm Plus: Hybrid Agricultural Landscapes – has been published in a collection of essays entitled ‘On Farming’. The volume of essays, curated by Charles Waldheim and Fritz Haeg, address ways that agriculture and architecture intesect across a spectrum from purely speculative to documenting built projects. Published by… Read more »

Posted by EllenBurke
in Urban Agriculture
on 20 January, 2012

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Sacred Heart Organic Food Garden – an interview with Marco Esposito

Connecting Agriculture & Suburbs – WSJ Article

Farmscaping at Alameda Point Collaborative Urban Farm

Agriculture: Losing Farmland to Urban Development

Edible Hotel Landscapes

‘On Farming’