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248 LOOKING AHEAD—DESIGNING LIVING BUILDINGS
Figure 14.2 The Alice Ferguson Foundation Hard Bargain Farm in Accokeek,
Maryland will consist of two buildings: the “Moss Lodge” situated on a shady site
and the “Grass Building” situated on a sunny site. Available resources and energy
will be shared between the two to achieve the goals of a living building. The project
expects to begin construction in 2009. Courtesy of M2 Architecture/Re:Vision Architecture.
can’t think of a building as living, you have to think of a site and the building together
as a living thing. Having two buildings, each of which are sitting in very different
microclimates but within a few hundred yards of each other, means that they are
going to have very different flows of energy through them. Each is able to make use
of what it can do well and share that [with the other]. It’s pretty unique. I hadn’t
encountered a situation like this before where we let two buildings work together in
that way.
The two buildings will work symbiotically, with one supplying energy and the other
water. The new “Moss Lodge” will replace the old overnight Wareham Lodge, located
on a shady hillside. Its roof reaches up to gather rain that will be purified for use by
both buildings. The landscape will channel and filter stormwater runoff and graywa-
ter from sinks and showers to recharge the underground aquifers. The day-use edu-
cation center, called the Grass Building, will be built at the sunny edge of a field, its
roof spreading out like wings to collect solar energy for the entire complex. The Grass
Building will provide multi-functional space, indoors and covered outdoors, for stu-
dents visiting Hard Bargain Farm.