Architectural Pop-up Installation - Greenhouse
About the project design
Twenty-four undergraduate architecture students designed and built a greenhouse in three weeks. The greenhouse is located at Campus Village Apartments (CVA) 318 Walnut St, Denver, CO. The plants grown in the greenhouse will be used to in CVA Dining to feed the students. Students worked closely with CVA’s very own Campus Village Café, which is managed by Sodexo a company that provides facilitates management and food services to universities. Chef Alex, Executive Chef for the University of Colorado Denver is incredible enthused about the new green house. From his perspective the greenhouse will “bring fresh home-grown herbs to the dining hall.” Furthermore, the greenhouse will continue to engage CU Denver students that extends past the design build course component. Chef Alex celebrates how the greenhouse has become “a great opportunity for students to contribute to the dining by participating in the growing process.” Student works will be responsible for tending to the herbs during the growing season. The plants determined for the greenhouse to be cucumbers, herbs, and tomatoes.
About the building design
The greenhouse is named the “Evolutionary Greenhouse.” The name pays tribute to the College of Architecture and Planning (CAP) mission to “ignite evolution that enriches places for people and the planet.” The CAP students oriented the structure due south to maximize sun exposure. The envelope consists of corrugated metal and polycarbonate material. The students integrated two types of polycarbonate material that is clear on the north side and opal on the rest of the building wall surfaces to diffuse sun light. The greenhouse has operable louvers on the north facing greenhouse side. The students designed the louvers to open 30 degrees outward to allow heat to escape from the windows. The greenhouse door was handmade with all scrap materials by the students. The greenhouse was completed on August 8th before students moved in on August 14th.
Delgado, Maria. “CU Denver News” Snapshots. September 16, 2019.
*More photos can be viewed on the College of Architecture and Planning Flicker account: Album: Greenhouse Undergraduate Design Build
PROJECT CREDITS | Project Development (University of Colorado | Denver Students) Abigail Balderrama-Magallanes, Michael Beasley, Hayes Berry, McKinley Boots, Mason Brown, Ethan Casselberry, McKaelain Collins, Fernando Gomez, Ricardo Gonzalez, Jonathan Kaczor, Gaven Kreider, Bryan Morse, Hasan Naser, Linda Olivas Rivera, Dhriti Pangasa, Stephanie Quist, Jesus Rodriguez-Leon, Sara Rowsell, Jane Song, Madeline Stackhouse, Paul Suedmeyer, Timothy Sunset, Damian Villasenor, Brian Williams | Course Faculty by Maria Delgado and Jo VandenBurg, Design Fabrication Lab support by Matthew Gines, Paul Stockhoff, Joel Brown, John Bonet, Structural Engineering Consultant EV Studio, Material Sponsor Strait Lumber