Argo Food Park is a center for food and agricultural innovation in Aarhus, Denmark that sits on about 250 acres of land. A new masterplan from William McDonough + Partners and 3XN/GXN has presented a proposal to develop the area into an urban environment that promotes innovation, knowledge sharing, and interaction between companies.
Farm fields surround the buildings located in the food park, and the proposal takes that into consideration, using the plant waste and manure from these farms as part of the new system design, fastcoexist.com reports. The proposal links the buildings for farm operations and office space in order to get enough heat or energy from the farm components to provide power for some of the buildings. The use of manure, biogas, and other farm waste will be used to power buildings and will be scaled up as new buildings are built.
The five main focus areas for the development are healthy materials, clean energy, increased biodiversity, healthy air, and clean water. “A carbon positive city demonstration at The Agro Food Park can be the embodiment of this new century—its clean water, air, soils and energy serving as a continuous source of economic and ecological innovation and regeneration, redefining how we act now for a positive future,” says William McDonough, FAIA, Int. FRIBAA, on the McDonough + Partners website.
The Argo Food Park proposal includes three primary spatial and landscape concepts called ‘The Strip,’ ‘The Plazas,’ and ‘The Lawn.’
The Strip acts as Argo Food Park’s main street. It is a street with open facades and shared amenities where the park’s companies can display their products and identities. It is built to be walkable and very pedestrian friendly.
The Plazas are a series of plazas meant to give local character to the surrunding buildings.
The Lawn is a central green space. It is meant to showcase the innovative and experimental happenings within the city’s agriculture and food production.
Currently, the masterplan calls for the work to be completed over four phases.
Image courtesy of 3XN/GXN
Image courtesy of 3XN/GXN
Image courtesy of 3XN/GXN
Image courtesy of 3XN/GXN
Image courtesy of 3XN/GXN
Image courtesy of 3XN/GXN
Related Stories
| Feb 9, 2011
Fortune 1000: Despite moral obligation to sustainability, cash is still king
Eighty-eight percent of Fortune 1000 senior executives feel business has a moral responsibility, beyond regulatory requirements, to make their companies more energy efficient, according to a new poll released today by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Schneider Electric. At the same time, the vast majority (61%) of respondents say that potential cost savings are their biggest motivator to save energy at the enterprise-level, outranking environmental concerns (13%) or government regulations (2%).
| Feb 9, 2011
Businesses make bigger, bolder sustainability commitments
In 2010, U.S. corporations continued to enhance their sustainable business efforts by making bigger, bolder, longer-term sustainability commitments. GreenBiz issued its 4th annual State of Green Business report, a free downloadable report that measures the progress of U.S. business and the economy from an environmental perspective, and highlights key trends in corporate culture in regard to the environment.
| Feb 7, 2011
President Obama cites PPG glass, coatings in Penn State speech
President Barack Obama yesterday acknowledged PPG Industries as a leader in the development of high-performance glass and coatings for energy-efficient buildings during a visit to Penn State University that kicked off the U.S. government’s “Better Buildings Initiative.’
| Feb 7, 2011
GSA Unveils New Sustainable Workplace Design Tool
The U.S. General Services Administration launched its Sustainable Facilities Tool on Monday, Feb. 7. The innovative online tool will make it easier for both government and private-sector property managers and developers to learn about and evaluate strategies to make workplaces more sustainable, helping to build and create jobs in America’s clean energy economy of the future.
| Feb 4, 2011
U.S. Green Building Council applauds President Obama’s Green Building Initiative
The U.S. Green Building Council applauded a key element of President Obama’s plan to “win the future” by making America’s commercial buildings more energy- and resource-efficient over the next decade. The President’s plan, entitled Better Buildings Initiative, catalyzes private-sector investment through a series of incentives to upgrade offices, stores, schools and universities, hospitals and other commercial and municipal buildings.
| Feb 4, 2011
President Obama: 20% improvement in energy efficiency will save $40 billion
President Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative, announced February 3, 2011, aims to achieve a 20% improvement in energy efficiency in commercial buildings by 2020, improvements that will save American businesses $40 billion a year.
| Jan 25, 2011
Bloomberg launches NYC Urban Tech Innovation Center
To promote the development and commercialization of green building technologies in New York City, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has launched the NYC Urban Technology Innovation Center. This initiative will connect academic institutions conducting underlying research, companies creating the associated products, and building owners who will use those technologies.
| Jan 25, 2011
InterContinental Hotels Group gets LEED pre-certification
InterContinental Hotels Group, the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, announced that its in-house sustainability system Green Engage has been awarded LEED volume pre-certification established from the USGBC and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute. IHG is the first hotel company to receive this award for an existing hotels program.
| Jan 21, 2011
Combination credit union and USO center earns LEED Silver
After the Army announced plans to expand Fort Bliss, in Texas, by up to 30,000 troops, FirstLight Federal Credit Union contracted NewGround (as CM) to build a new 16,000-sf facility, allocating 6,000 sf for a USO center with an Internet café, gaming stations, and theater.
| Jan 21, 2011
Manufacturing plant transformed into LEED Platinum Clif Bar headquarters
Clif Bar & Co.’s new 115,000-sf headquarters in Emeryville, Calif., is one of the first buildings in the state to meet the 2008 California Building Energy Efficiency Standards. The structure has the largest smart solar array in North America, which will provide nearly all of its electrical energy needs.
