Editor’s note: “Juliet Grable is a freelance writer whose work covers a range of topics related to sustainability, regenerative design and construction. She has served as the Managing Editor for Green Builder Magazine, and has contributed to many national and regional publications including Earth Island Journal, Sierra, Audubon, and Home Power.” Here she shares what makes the subject of our latest release, Regenerative Retrofit: California’s First Living Building, so special. Order your copy today!

In the world of architecture, “resilience” is a buzzword these days. Climate change is making natural disasters more common and at the same time, less predictable. And now we as a global community are facing the ultimate test of resilience: the Covid-19 pandemic.

I was excited for the opportunity to author the Living Building Challenge case study book on the Arch Nexus architecture firm’s Sacramento office (Arch Nexus SAC). I live in southern Oregon, so the project is more or less in my backyard. Our region shares many of the same concerns, including the risk of drought and increasingly destructive wildfire seasons.

And in fact, drought was one of the main drivers for the project, which is designed to function on 100 percent captured rainwater and recycled greywater.

The sculptural metal cisterns are a visual cue to the building’s resilience. But there are other, less obvious ways Arch Nexus SAC is ready for just about anything.

When learning about the building, one of the things I was most struck by was the decision to host the computer server onsite. If you look at a chart breaking down energy demand by category, you’ll quickly notice that the single largest user of power is the server. But Arch Nexus decided to locate the server in-house and take on the accompanying energy burden for a couple of reasons.

First, it aligned with their goal of authenticity, as hosting the server allows the firm to “own” their energy usage rather than off-load it somewhere off-site—a perfectly allowable thing to do, by the way.

Second, it enabled a more efficient strategy for energy use. Arch Nexus outfitted each workstation with thin clients. These use only about 10 watts apiece, much less than a conventional laptop or desktop computer, because they access programs remotely rather than rely on stored memory. This strategy also concentrates the heat from plug loads into the server room rather than distributing it throughout the office area. The server room is cooled with its own separate, cooling–only condensing unit and fan coil.

Finally, hosting the server on-site makes the firm more resilient. Staff in both the Salt Lake City and Sacramento offices can access the server. In theory, if the power were to go out in Salt Lake City, staff from that office could keep working.

A 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook Salt Lake City on March 18. Thousands of homes and businesses lost power and many buildings were damaged. 

I reached out to Kenner Kingston, President of Arch Nexus, to see if their Salt Lake City office had been affected by the quake, and to ask how they were protecting their staff from virus exposure.

Fortunately, Arch Nexus SLC was not impacted by the quake. But staff have taken their thin clients home and are able to continue working on projects safely by accessing the server in Sacramento. As of this writing, staff in both offices continue to work from home. 

“Our incredible staff simply have not missed a beat,” says Kingston. “I miss them so much, but I’m very proud of the fact that we are doing all we can to protect their health.”

It strikes me that the whole point of resilience is to be able to weather the unexpected—whether that be a drought, an earthquake, or something as extraordinary as the Covid-19 pandemic.

You can read about the project’s resilience and energy-saving strategies in Regenerative Retrofit: California’s First Living Building. In the meantime, please stay safe.

This is an excerpt from Juliet Grable’s Brock Environmental Center for a Living Chesapeake.

DESIGNING WITH NATURE

The Living Building Challenge Standard mandates the incorporation of biophilic elements into the design of buildings in order to nurture the innate human attraction to natural systems and processes. The ILFI considers this natural connection essential to physical health and mental well-being. Much like the human tropism toward beauty, this intuitively felt truth has been ignored too often in modern architecture. Recognition of biophilia, or the inherent human affinity for our natural world, was a part of the Brock Center design from the earliest sketches right up to the time when the final coats of paint were applied. For guidance, the design team paid heed to Dr. Stephen R. Kellert’s Six Principles of Biophilic Design. Although it is easy to experience the elegant natural design elements of the Brock Center and intuit that it is informed by the philosophy of biophilia, it is also possible to identify specific features by Kellert’s biophilic design categories:

ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES:

Elements include the use of color and natural materials, and the incorporation and enhancement of views and vistas. Before choosing colors for the building, the design team studied photographs of the site during different seasons. The Brock Center’s palette complements and mimics these natural color schemes, which include the blues of The Chesapeake Bay, the green of Loblolly Pine needles, the straw blond of salt meadow plants, and the rusty orange of resident marsh grasses. Many of the building’s features work together to enhance views and encourage visitors to connect with the landscape. These features include the building’s long form, abundant windows, elevated grade and its orientation on the site.

Educating visitors about the Bay and sustainable building go hand in hand. Photo: Dave Chance

NATURAL SHAPES AND FORMS:

The Brock Center incorporates natural shapes and forms inside and outside the building, and on the macro and micro scales. The entire building was designed to resemble an animal; in particular, the conference room, with its curved roof, hints at the terrapin’s shell, a gull’s wings, and an oyster’s shell; the overlapping zinc shingles resemble fish scales. The interior vaulted space curves, and the beams recall the curving limbs of live oaks that grow on the site.

NATURAL PATTERNS AND PROCESSES:

This category includes natural patterns on different scales, called fractals, and elements that suggest the passage of time, among others. In the Brock Center, the inward-spiraling pattern in the conference room flooring creates a central focal point and makes a complicated room cohesive. Similarly, the diagonal flooring pattern in the lobby and open office areas help integrate the different parts of the building into a unified whole.

LIGHT AND SPACE:

The many windows, abundant natural light and high ceilings in the office area and conference room create feelings of spaciousness and evoke a natural environment. In contrast, the lower ceilings of the corridor, combined with the continuous curve, direct attention out the windows. The dog trot—essentially an outdoor room within the building mass— serves as a transition space between indoors and outdoors. “The biggest compliment that we get about the building is that it feels so comfortable. Whether that’s because of the choice of paints or the curves, nothing feels sterile or like a ‘normal’ office building. Every aspect of the building has a bit of fun in it.”

The Brock Center incorporates simple, naturally beautiful materials such as zinc and wood. Photo: Prakash Patel

HOW IS THE BROCK CENTER LIKE AN OYSTER?

The design team admired the native oyster not just for its pleasing physical form, but for its functions, which are so vital for the health and water quality of The Chesapeake Bay, and which matched many of the goals for how the Brock Center would function. This approach marries biophilia with biomimicry—the practice of taking cues from natural forms and processes to create better buildings, materials, and products that are nontoxic, low energy and do not produce waste. Here are some of the characteristics of oysters that the design team looked to for inspiration:

• Oysters are tolerant organisms, able to withstand wide variations in temperature.
• Oysters provide valuable shelter and habitat for many other estuarine organisms.
• Oysters filter the water and remove sediment, improving water quality.
• Oysters stabilize the bottom and buffer the shoreline from erosion.
• Oysters transform trash into treasure by encapsulating irritants and turning them into pearls. •
• Oysters open and close for protection, responding to environmental conditions.

PLACE-BASED RELATIONSHIPS:

The siting and form of the Brock Center pays close attention to the site. The building’s horizontality reflects the topography, with its low-growing marsh grasses and uninterrupted views of the water and sky, and its gentle curve mimics the shoreline. The Brock Center also pays homage to historic and indigenous structures, including longhouses, which are characterized by their long form, vaulted space, and overall simplicity. The Brock Center also draws from the plantation houses of European settlers, notable for their elevated structure and wrapping porches, and from Southern dog-trot houses, which utilize a central breezeway to unite public and private spaces.

EVOLVED HUMAN-NATURE RELATIONSHIPS:

This final category includes concepts such as prospect and refuge; exploration and discovery; and affection and attachment. The Brock Center addresses many of these functions simultaneously. The physical approach to the Center decouples humans from their cars; the peaceful, forested environment creates a literal physical transition from the fast-paced, car-centric built environment to a slower-paced, more sensual place. The education pavilion serves as a place of prospect and refuge—its roof protects people from the elements but does not cut them off from the smells of the marsh and sounds of the rain. The pavilion also serves as a classroom for CBF’s educational programs—a place that nurtures exploration and discovery.

Purchase your copy of  Brock Environmental Center for a Living Chesapeake here.