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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