buildingcommunityWORKSHOP

Date ant Time:  August 2, 2011  7:00pm

Presenter:  Brent Brown and Benji Feehan

                  buildingcommunityWORKSHOP

The buildingcommunityWORKSHOP (bcWorkshop) is a 15 person Dallas based nonprofit community architectural design center specializing in sustainable design.  The Center seeks to improve the livability and viability of communities.  They bring design thinking to areas of the city where resources are most scarce.  Their focus is about ideas, about making connections to things that need to happen, and about getting things done.  It means getting involved with community based design which means engaging the client and the communities that they are working with.  Bringing in as many people from multiple disciplines and exposing them to a process from development to design to construction. The bcWorkshop recognizes that it must first understand the social, economic, and environmental issues facing a community before beginning work.

bcWorkshop planning study

Brent mentioned that the most fundamental aspect of sustainability is Ethics.  bcWorkshop is interested in Architecture to help people.  Environmental design is the background of their work.  They label their practice as ‘public interest design’ and it is based on a process of engagement with the community.

One of the projects they have worked on is the Congo Street Green Initiative.  Funding for the project came from bond money and HUD.  Congo Street is a 19 foot narrow street with 17 single-family homes and duplex houses that were built before 1910.  It is located just a few blocks from the ‘State Fair’. 

Congo Street - early photo of development

Many living there are long time residents and some are descendents of former renters.  They had 5 families on the street when they started the project.  The project entailed maintaining a sense of community as each resident expressed a desire to remain on Congo despite the need to repair their home.

recent photo of Congo Street development

Taking into consideration the amount of time it takes to renovate a home, a residence called the “Holding House” was built.  A resident would live there while their home was being renovated or rebuilt.  The house has achieved LEED Gold rating.  Another home has achieved LEED Platinum and each home will either meet USGBC REGREEN standards for renovations or LEED for Homes certification for new construction.  They have also been working with a landscape architect to define landscape areas along the street.  Each area in front of a home will have input from the resident and will contain vegetation that is native to the area and draught tolerant.

a renovated home on Congo Street

Here is a link to the Congo Street blog:

http://bcw-congo.blogspot.com

 Those interested in touring the Center are invited on Friday’s at 12 Noon.  Call ahead of time to make sure they are available.

bcWorkshop is located at:

2814 Main St., suite 102

Dallas, TX  75226

Phone:  214-252-2900

Following is a link to the bcWorkshop web page:

www.bcworkshop.org