Eco Abet 2014 Summer Charrette - The Urban Farming Guys

THE URBAN FARMING GUYS

Summer Charrette 2014

The Urban Farming Guys 7 About UFG 9 Site Context and History 11 Project Goals

Team McCown Gordon 17 Program 23 Interior Finishes 25 Building Exterior Team Burns And McDonnell 29 Site and Context 31 Program 36 Interior Finishes 37 Building Exterior 39 EcoAbet 41 Special Consideration

“OUR MISSION IS TO HELP

ESTABLISH SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES IN THE MOST DIFFICULT PLACES ON EARTH.”

Summer Charrette 2014

ABOUT THE UFG The Urban Farming Guys (UFG) are a passionate band of pioneers working and living fully immersed in the urban core of Kansas City.

Beginning with no money, no buildings, and no grant funds, they poured their lives into the hundreds of youth within walking distance. Answering the call to help the inner city youth, Urban Farming Guys has been informally working in the inner city of Kansas City for over eight years and were officially established as a 501c3 in 2012. They now have a global reach with over 28,000 YouTube subscribers who are following their story and work not only in Kansas City, but also in areas of India and Mexico.

5

Summer Charrette 2014

ABOUT THE UFG In their attempt to establish sustainable communities in the most difficult places on Earth, the Urban Farming Guys run several initiatives that include afer-school programs, a community garden, and an Internship to Ownership Program aimed at reintigrating those with substance abuse and/or incarcaration histories into the community to promote the adaption of productive lifestyles. These initiatives support the following specific activitites:

• Fish hatcheries (Kansas City, India, Mexico) • Community Supported Agriculture • Worm farm • Webstore • YouTube channel • Gospel Rap albums and recordings

7

Summer Charrette 2014

SITE CONTEXT AND HISTORY

UFG Headquarters

Garden Plots Myrtle Ave.

AT&T Cleveland Ave.

Monroe Ave.

MakerSpace Site

The Urban Farming Guys have created their home on the corner of Myrtle Ave and 12th Street in Kansas City, Missouri. They recently purchased a 20,000 square foot building to be converted into a “MakerSpace,” or a community-innovation-DIY space. The new MakerSpace building will be located two blocks west of their headquarters at 12th and Monroe.

12th St.

9

“TRUE TRANSFORMATION

COMES FROM WITHIN AND WORKS ITS WAY OUT.

”

Summer Charrette 2014

PROJECT GOALS The MakerSpace will be self-sufficient and serve as host to financially viable programming. The building is owned debt-free and any donations will support the purchase of program materials, equipment, and resources. The MakerSpace will operate on a membership plan, similar to a gym membership, in which students and community members will pay a monthly fee to gain access to the space and tools. This financial structure will also make it possible for MakerSpace to offer scholarships to children and students from the Lykins neighborhood.

Recording Studio

After-school programs and community connections through the Urban Farming Guys have identified many young men and women with musical/ vocal talent. The UFG will pair talented artists with mentors and give them the opportunity to pursue their dreams in a space ample for both vocal and instrumental recording.

Cafe

The MakerSpace is to include a community cafe that is fitted with comfortable and inviting seating, educational materials, computer access, etc. This cafe and commnity space will serve as an informational hub where people can access local event and program information and gain free web-access to submit resumes, conduct research online, etc. The cafe will also be utilized to showcase artwork to the community.

Robotics

As a component of the MakerSpace, an inner city robotics team will be formed and a space will be designated to support the group’s activity.

11

View looking Southeast from 12th Street

View looking Southwest from 12th Street

View of ground floor space

View of basement space

View of second floor space

View of second floor space

Existing Conditions

Summer Charrette 2014

PROJECT GOALS Classroom

Office Space

Community Kitchen

Artist Studios

Aquaponics

The classroom will provide community members with a community meeting and training space to learn and continue their education (including training in the Adobe creative suite).

The MakerSpace will include office space for the expanding Urban Farming Guys organization and its staff.

A community kitchen will allow culinary entrepreneurs the opportunity to prepare food. The kitchen will also play host to fundraising events for both the MakerSpace and the Urban Farming Guys.

Through donations and volunteer efforts, members will have access to woodworking/furniture making, welding, 3D printing, painting, sewing, etc. The proposed studios are to be places of inspiration, innovation, invention, and learning.

Aquaponics is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment. The MakerSpace with include an area dedicated to the creation of such a production system.

13

Team McCown Gordon Sam Loring//Helix Katie Crowley//Helix Carissa Loehr//Helix Danielle Vevea//Helix Bryan Gross//Helix Mary Beth Rojas//NELSON Thanh Nguyen//El Dorado Kurt Youngstrom//L.E.T.S.

Programmatic relationships

PROGRAM With diverse programmatic requirements and unique security needs, the Urban Farming Guys(UFG) set out to imagine an urban workshop for inner city youth in a underserved neighborhood of Kansas City. The team looked to foster this vision with the help of the UFG by creating a secure, organized space that welcomed the community and developed a new youth hub for creativity and connectivity. Out of this partnership was born a concept for the “Urban Workshop and Innovation Lab.�

The team helped to organize the diverse space requested by UFG within the two buildings by placing a communal hub at the center of the east building. Office space and a conference room flank one side of the communal hub. Using transparent materials gives the staff and volunteers the ablility to supervise those entering and leaving the space.

With the operations and welcome spaces in the east building, the west building truly becomes the creation and activity hub.

17

The basement of the MakerSpace

will host the Aquaponics hub of the Urban Farming Guys. Additionally, the basement hosts the recording studios and storage for all of the programs hosted within the MakerSpace building.

PROGRAM

The Ground floor of the

MakerSpace will host the community spaces, including the classroom, computer lab, community hub, and commercial kitchen. Placing these areas on the first floor with the use of transparent materials creates a visual connection to the surrounding community. Although it is asthetically transparent, the space would be completely enclosed and require secure acceess.

19

The second floor of the

MakerSpace building plays host to open workshop for building and fabrication. This space will host welding, woodworking, etc. and teach students how to use these tools for craft. The second floor also provides access to a roof deck on top of the single-story space. This roof deck is an unexplored opportunity for a roof deck with grilling and gardening space.

PROGRAM

The third floor is a mezzanine

above the second floor and will host a painting studio. The space offers an incredible view out of the building as well as over the MakerSpace.

21

INTERIOR FINISHES The team developed a list of suggested materials with “do-it-yourself� fabrication techniques and tight budgets in mind that primarily include concrete, pine plywood, and solid surface counters. These materials are easily sourced, durable and maintainable, and mimic the UFG mission of natural and organic precedences. A pallet of blue and green paints and accent fabrics offer an infusion of UFG's brand and emphasize their connection to nature.

23

INTERIOR FINISHES

Representative interiors and examples

25

View of MakerSpace exterior looking southeast from 12th Street

The team’s design opened the building to the community. A proposed storefront in the south façade of the east structure would open to a communal hub. This small but important decision allowed the space to have views of the surrounding neighborhood for both passersby and youth to see.

Additionally, the presence of natural light within the spaced which was allowed for by the storefront. On the ground level of the west building, original windows would be opened, letting light in as well.

EXTERIOR VIEW

27

TEAM BURNS & McDONNELL John Reeves//Gould Evans Nick Bock//Gould Evans Patrick Franke//Gould Evans Emily Harrold//Gould Evans Jason Ragan//Gould Evans Dave Macaulay//Historic Green & SKW Culin Thompson//Eco Abet Aimee Gray//a3g Architects Shelby Franklin//a3g Architects Linda Cain//Blue Onion Designs

View looking Northeast on 12th Street

TWO STORY

SINGLE STORY

CURRENT ENTRANCES

SITE AND CONTEXT Located at 12th and Monroe in Kansas City’s Lykins Neighborhood, the MakerSpace sits within a neighborhood wrestling with high crime rates: burglary, theft, assault, etc. Over time, Lykins has seen significant disinvestment, increasingly high dropout rates and overall economic and social conditions that are well below city averages.

The new Lykins Maker Space (LMS) will become an important catalyst to realizing a safe, creative community center for residents while expressing the area’s rich history, culture and future. Constructed in the late 19th century with additions extending into the 1930s, this nearly 14,000-square-foot space is two stories with a basement.

This map of the 64127 zip code area of Kansas City, Missouri is designated as a “food desert” meaning that individuals living within it do not have adequate access to healthy foods and fresh produce.

31

Circulation Community Space Robotics Offices

Floor Plan Option 1 - Main Level

By positioning specific elements and programs within the building, the floor plan is able to divide the building between the public and private zones and spaces. This transition from public to private follows the schematic card system UFG plans to implement for its membership to the MakerSpace.

PROGRAM To renew and strengthen its connection with the Lykins Neighborhood, LMS centers on community engagement through rooftop gardens, upper windows opened up to create more light and visibility, and pulling in the faรงade to create a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces. Inviting spaces throughout seek to inspire creation in community members on a personal scale.

Floor Plan Option 2 - Main Level

33

Programmatically, the building’s restoration will focus on engagement with the community by including creative spaces that also serve a functional need, whether from robotics to 3-D printing to metalworking to music recording and other fine arts. Program spaces will enhance the efforts of individuals who are underserved to create their own community based on shared tools and shared knowledge.

MAKERSPACE

RECORDING STUDIO

STORAGE

LO

OUNGE

PROGRAM

ROOFTOP GARDEN

ROBOTICS

OFFICES

AQUAPONICS

35

Makerspace Second Floor

Makerspace Second Floor

Interior details reflect a raw industrial feel through found objects and repurposed materials that have developed a patina from use. Together, these represent “indestructibility.� Interior colors also build on the Urban Farming Guys brand as appropriatebright green, yellow, earth tones.

INTERIOR FINISHES

Makerspace Mezzanine

37

EXTERIOR VIEW

The LMS exterior will serve as an advertisement for interior activities, essentially moving common spaces for makers to the outside of the building – through paint, perforated metal and murals, etc. Reuse and renovation of materials will express a line between security and inclusion/community.

39

10% of the World’s customers

90% of the World’s designers

90% of the World’s designers focus all of their effort on developing products and services exclusively for the richest 10% of the World’s customers -ADAPTED FROM PAUL POLAK, OUT OF POVERTY: WHEN TRADITIONAL APPROACHES FAIL

Summer Charrette 2014

ECOABET Eco Abet originated in 2010 as a 501(c)3, intent on providing every person access to design. Design that promotes a socially, economically, and environmentally healthy community.

To provide this service to those who cannot afford it, we facilitate design charrettes that have three key deliverables:

1. Access to professional design services for community organizations.

2. Compelling visual media that help funders assess community projects’ merits, which may otherwise be difficult to visualize without Eco Abet’s services.

3. Professional development and volunteer opportunities for architects and other designers.

With a design charrette, Eco Abet assists in initiating the first steps in a building project’s design process, in which a group of architects and designers provide solutions to a specific design concern. While the structure of a charrette can vary across the profession, we invite

the Kansas City design community (for one day) to offer their services and talents for free. These design participants are divided into groups and given a preselected project with which to design. This publication is a summary of one of three projects involved in our 2014 Summer Charrette.

Individual involvement takes place for a myriad of reasons. Between community organizations and the designers helping them envision and communicate their projects, relationships are being formed that give exposure to all stakeholders involved. Anyone who can bring resources to a project is invited to the table. All members are mutually benefited and the results of these projects ultimately assist the betterment of the overall community.

41

Summer Charrette 2014

SPECIAL CONSIDERATION Team Sponsors:

Event Supporters:

·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ··

Morse Architectural Products Parisi Artisan Coffee Spin! Neopolitan Pizza Fervere Chez Elle Price Chopper Summit Architecture Katrina Elaine Photography

Event Partners:

·· KCDC ·· Women in Design

Board of Directors:

·· ·· ·· ··

Amanda Drews Deacy Mary Sullivan Deacy Mary Anne Kapp Bill Reisler

Planning Committee:

·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ··

Rachel Duncan Jesiy Brown Sara Wells Brittany Hodges Erin Hurd Beth Dawson Samantha McCloud Lindsay Nencheck Tiffany Hoffman

Publication Design & Editing:

·· Chloe Lockman ·· Culin Thompson ·· Angela Gunn

43