The Re:Vision Dallas competition attracted hundreds of entries from the world’s top architecture firms from twenty six countries. ”The quality of the thought and effort of the design teams is astounding. It was very clear that a lot of people had put their hearts and souls into this competition,” said CDC Executive Director John Greenan. The latest proposal shared with us comes from DB +P/Fletcher Studio entitled XERO Project. This winning proposal, along with the other two winning proposals (Little and Atelier Data + MOOV previously featured on AD) has the opportunity to be selected for construction by the competition’s development partners.
More about the XERO Project after the break.
XERO Project reaches beyond the property lines of the competition block to create an intersecting greenway that extends into the whole community. This intersection allows surrounding neighborhoods to be connected by walkable greenways that serve as infrastructure. “By filling in the vast emptiness, making connections with the surrounding neighborhoods, addressing extreme weather and street conditions, and providing a clear focus, XERO creates a place that Dallas can value and use,” explained the team. The intersecting greenways incorporate open spaces, such as a public square, and create a network a green environments that can adapt and grow with future development.
At the center of the greenways, a new agriculture district becomes interwoven with the city’s historical elements. Complete with orchards and fields, this area will provide food for the whole community. A water system will run under the greenways to filter harvested rainwater and pass it to the agricultural fields where it will be used for irrigation.
A 12-story residential tower comprised of 210 bedrooms will respond to the growing population in a completely zero-enery way. Planted screens and photovoltaic panels on the south façade will protect the housing from direct sun, while natural ventilation will keep the units cool. ”The building’s superior energy performance is made possible by through-ventilation in housing units, rainwater collection, graywater reuse, skip-stop elevators, and climate control systems connected to a ground-source heat pump and hybrid desiccant system,” explained the designers.
At the base of the tower, a large courtyard provides public open space that leads to a highly activated street level. This base level includes micro-retail spaces and marketplaces where the food that is grown by the local farmers will be sold. These programs energize the street by appealing to the surrounding Dallas community to help connect this block with other neighborhoods.
By looking outside the scope of one city block, XERO Project seeks to extend its influence into the entire community. By linking all with their system of greenways, the idea of creating a prototype for a single sustainable urban block morphs into the idea of designing a complete low energy city.
Design Team
David Baker + Partners www.dbarchitect.com
Ian Dunn, AIA, LEED AP Mark Hogan, LEED AP Amanda Loper, LEED AP Amit Price Patel, AIA, LEED AP
Fletcher Studio www.fletcherstudio.com
Sarah Donato, LEED AP David Fletcher, ASLA, RLA
Rendering assistance: Mike Brown
Megan Morris
