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
| Oct 21, 2010
GSA confirms new LEED Gold requirement
The General Services Administration has increased its sustainability requirements and now mandates LEED Gold for its projects.
| Oct 18, 2010
World’s first zero-carbon city on track in Abu Dhabi
Masdar City, the world’s only zero-carbon city, is on track to be built in Abu Dhabi, with completion expected as early as 2020. Foster + Partners developed the $22 billion city’s master plan, with Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Aedas, and Lava Architects designing buildings for the project’s first phase, which is on track to be ready for occupancy by 2015.
| Oct 13, 2010
Editorial
The AEC industry shares a widespread obsession with the new. New is fresh. New is youthful. New is cool. But “old” or “slightly used” can be financially profitable and professionally rewarding, too.
| Oct 13, 2010
Prefab Trailblazer
The $137 million, 12-story, 500,000-sf Miami Valley Hospital cardiac center, Dayton, Ohio, is the first major hospital project in the U.S. to have made extensive use of prefabricated components in its design and construction.
| Oct 13, 2010
Campus building gives students a taste of the business world
William R. Hough Hall is the new home of the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The $17.6 million, 70,000-sf building gives students access to the latest technology, including a lab that simulates the stock exchange.
| Oct 13, 2010
Apartment complex will offer affordable green housing
Urban Housing Communities, KTGY Group, and the City of Big Bear Lake (Calif.) Improvement Agency are collaborating on The Crossings at Big Bear Lake, the first apartment complex in the city to offer residents affordable, eco-friendly homes. KTGY designed 28 two-bedroom, two-story townhomes and 14 three-bedroom, single-story flats, averaging 1,100 sf each.
| Oct 13, 2010
Residences bring students, faculty together in the Middle East
A new residence complex is in design for United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE, near Abu Dhabi. Plans for the 120-acre mixed-use development include 710 clustered townhomes and apartments for students and faculty and common areas for community activities.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community center under way in NYC seeks LEED Platinum
A curving, 550-foot-long glass arcade dubbed the “Wall of Light” is the standout architectural and sustainable feature of the Battery Park City Community Center, a 60,000-sf complex located in a two-tower residential Lower Manhattan complex. Hanrahan Meyers Architects designed the glass arcade to act as a passive energy system, bringing natural light into all interior spaces.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community college plans new campus building
Construction is moving along on Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus Center in Union City, N.J. The seven-story, 92,000-sf building will be the first higher education facility in the city.
| Oct 13, 2010
Bookworms in Silver Spring getting new library
The residents of Silver Spring, Md., will soon have a new 112,000-sf library. The project is aiming for LEED Silver certification.
