Wojciech Bandyk and Roksana Gleizner from the Faculty of Architecture at Wrocław University of Technology took part in the Architecture at Zero competition. This year's challenge was the design of a low-carbon, eco-friendly agricultural center and housing for farmers in Allensworth, California. Their ECOZONE project, made with rammed earth technology and taking advantage of the terrain, won the Citation Award.
The Architecture at Zero competition is organized annually by American associations and institutions, including: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and the American Institiute of Architects California (AIA CA). The goal of the competition is to promote low-carbon, zero-energy buildings that meet the requirements of the California Title 24 Building Energy Efficiency Standards. In addition to the architectural study, participants are also required to prepare a technical section describing the environmentally friendly ideas and strategies used in the project.
On the south side of the buildings there are spaces for seasonal crops
© Wojciech Bandyk, Roksana Gleizner
This year's competition theme was to create a project focused on decarbonization, resilience, environmental responsibility and equity. The competition was aimed at high school and college students as well as professionals. The challenge was to design an agricultural center that combines the history of the first city founded by black people in California with its current aspirations to become a center for sustainable agriculture. All participants were asked to design an innovative farm with an educational center. In addition, students and professionals were to design housing for employees and students of the agricultural center.
ECOZONE project, site plan
© Wojciech Bandyk, Roksana Gleizner
The competition emphasized four aspects: creating an overall site plan and aligning it with the program, emphasizing any strategies or systems presented for energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy storage and carbon reduction. The agricultural center building was to be designed to reduce carbon emissions.
Participants were also asked to complete a table outlining climate change adaptation strategies and identify design strategies that support resilience. The final aspect was to consider how the design addresses equality in the community.
The authors also designed green roofs
© Wojciech Bandyk, Roksana Gleizner
award for students of Wrocław University of Technology
The submitted works were evaluated by an international jury consisting of: Lance Collins (architect, AIA), Mary Ann Lazarus (architect, Cameron MacAllister Group), Dr. Paul Torcellini (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), Allison Grace Williams (AGWms_studio). The jury evaluated the works from technical (energy indicators) and architectural points of view. Awards were given in the categories of high school students, college students and professionals. You can check the full list of awarded projects on the competition website. In thegraduate student category, the Citation Award went to Wojciech Bandyk and Roksana Gleizner. Their ECOZONE project was prepared under the guidance of Dr. Anna Berbesz, Dr. Ewa Cisek and Dr. Kajetan Sadowski.
The main construction material is rammed earth
© Wojciech Bandyk, Roksana Gleizner
rammed earth agricultural center
Our proposal focuses on the use of the goods offered to us by the organizers' proposed environment, which is primarily soil. It served us as the main building material, dictated the design principles and showed us the hidden potential of the space. By using rammed earth (rammed earth) construction, we minimized material transportation issues and relied on dynamic topography of the site, taking advantage of the depressions left behind after the excavation," the award-winning students said.
ECOZONE project, projection
© Wojciech Bandyk, Roksana Gleizner
Thanks to such measures, the authors created an environmentally friendly center building. Elements that helped them achieve high energy efficiency results included shading panels, built-in seasonal greenhouses integral to the building, numerous arcades and natural shades, rainwater tanks located in the earthen embankments, and basins and depressions designed for abundant rainfall.
The numerous arcades also provide space for growing crops
© Wojciech Bandyk, Roksana Gleizner
community integration
The specific geometry of the buildings and their placement on the site plan is not coincidental; we have taken into account sunlight issues and used them to our advantage. The entire complex is intended to be an integral part of the farmland and farm located in the south of the proposed plot and include a residential and a commercial area, Wojciech and Roxana add.
The building located in the northern part of the plot houses a store with local products and a bar. The western part includes a residential pavilion with two types of rooms and a community kitchen, with seasonal greenhouses separating them. Meanwhile, the authors located the building with offices and lecture halls in the eastern part.
The ECOZONE project is maintained in a strict form
© Wojciech Bandyk, Roksana Gleizner
In the southern parts of the buildings, the designers located a semi-public staircase, with space for seasonal crops. According to the authors, this treatment fosters closer neighborhood ties and stimulates community formation, which was one of the guidelines of the competition. It is also for this reason that there are numerous paths, recreational areas and greenhouses in the development area.
zero-emission and multiplication
Given the context, we stripped the design of excessive decorative aspects and focused on leaving as many materials as possible in their unaltered form, making the facilities look more raw and natural. Green roofs were enhanced with photovoltaic panel installations, which is part of the very important issue of zero carbonity of the designed establishment. The strong point of the project, for which we managed to win the award, was the approach to playing with the topography of the site and creating multiplication of the premise within the framework of the possible planned development of the farm, as well as the dynamic composition and materials used, the authors conclude.
