Eco-Laboratory: Food for Thought

Mar 12, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Room # 408

Prented by: Peter David Greaves, Weber Thompson, Dan Albert, Weber Thompson, Myer Harrell, Weber Thompson

Session Description:

Global concerns have emerged around current conventional agricultural practices. With looming population growth and the degradation of our arable lands, new solutions are needed to provide adequate food and water to the earth’s growing population. Though the current model is flawed, our urban environments may hold the keys to challenging issues we face.

Eco-Laboratory is a conceptual high-rise project that addresses global issues with local solutions and brings commercial-scale urban agriculture and vertical farming to Seattle. Created by four young designers from Weber Thompson, Eco-Laboratory surpassed 17 other finalists to win the national 2008 Natural Talent Design Competition at Green Build, the USGBC annual conference. The vision is a holistic response to provide the basic necessities of healthy food, clean water, and a place where residents can live, work, and restore their impacts on site. This project balances ecology, social justice, and profitability in a new building prototype.

The design also responds to the most progressive sustainability benchmark, The Living Building Challenge, while not straying from the ultimate goal of implementation. The aesthetic is an honest representation of the building systems. The design team combined innovative, off-the-shelf technologies with tested passive systems to create a commercially viable building solution.

Speakers Bios:

Peter David Greaves, AIA, LEED AP

Principal, Weber Thompson

A Design Principal at Weber Thompson in Seattle, Mr. Greaves is both a generalist and a minimalist in his design philosophy. His focus is complex mixed-use urban in-fill projects and he devotes much of his time to being a mentor to emerging professionals at Weber Thompson. Peter was a designer on the LEED Gold certified building occupied by the firm, The Terry Thomas, and was the lead designer for the firm’s LEED Platinum certified offices. The Terry Thomas has received a number of awards and accolades including a 2008 AIA Seattle Commendation, a 2009 AIA Seattle “What Makes it Green?” top ten award and a 2009 Top Ten Green award from AIA National’s Committee on the Environment. Greaves continues to lecture on, and lead tours of, The Terry Thomas. Peter has practiced architecture in Seattle for over 30 years and has served as President of AIA Seattle and President of AIA Washington Council. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University School of Architecture.

Dan Albert, Assoc. ASLA, LEED AP

Weber Thompson

Dan Albert, Associate ASLA, LEED AP, is a landscape designer and graphic specialist with Weber Thompson in Seattle. His design philosophy revolves around creating places that value culture, celebrate ecology, and sustain economic prosperity. Dan was a member of the team that developed the conceptual project Eco-laboratory, which won first place in the USGBC 2008 Natural Talent Design Competition. During his Master of Landscape Architecture study at the State University of New York – ESF, he developed Selling the Sustainable Aesthetic, an educational resource designed to positively shape the way people develop, understand, and interact with the built environment. An adapted version of this work was runner-up in the 2009 Next Generation Design Competition and was published in the May issue of Metropolis Magazine.

Myer Harrell, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP

Weber Thompson

An architectural project coordinator at Weber Thompson anticipating licensure in late 2009, Mr. Harrell is an Emerging Green Builder with a focus on integrative design, systems thinking, and progressive contractual agreements. He was a member of the design team for Eco-laboratory, a Living Building concept awarded first place in the USGBC 2008 Natural Talent Design Competition. In May 2009, he and Dan Albert won the runner-up prize in Metropolis Magazine’s Next Generation Design Competition. He is co-chair of the Seattle AIA Practice/Ethics committee, contributing to a chapter magazine column and preparing seminars on ethical and contractual issues for building industry professionals. He was recently appointed to a Design Review Board by the Seattle Mayor’s office through Get Engaged, a program that places people under 30 years old on public commissions. He received his Master in Architecture degree at the University of Washington, Seattle.