Dickinson College FARM Lab
Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania
Regenerative architecture for regenerative agriculture!
Three big ideas:
Living Building,
Regenerative Agriculture,
Biophilic
Re:Vision is currenty leading the design team for an innovative leadership project at Dickinson College’s organic Farm. The Food Agriculture and Resource Management (F.A.R.M.) Lab will be a multipurpose high-performance building on the farm that hosts educational, public, and private events while serving critical agricultural functions for the farm. The design process has been deeply integrative to the Dickinson and agricultural community and has included 40 person visioning sessions and biophilic design charrettes.
The project is being designed to achieve Living Building Challenge certification – the most holistic, deep, and beautiful certification in the built environment.
Project Gallery
The project is located at Dickinson College's 80 acre organic farm with the Appalachian Mountains in the background.
FARM Lab is strategically located on site on a flat, elevated section close to existing roadways to minimize new requried infrastructure and maximize access and views to key farm features. The west facade features full height operable barn-wood shutters for solar control.
Visitors approach the building through a lush meadow and are greeted with a vernacular form that references regional barn features such as ventilations slots on gable ends.
The building features a generous open hall that connects the interior spaces and opens to the exterior.
The centerpiece of the building is a flexible multipurpose room that is used for classes and events. It opens to a western terrace through the operable vertical wood shutters.
The building is designed to achieve net-zero energy. The primary components of the design are passive solar orientation, a high-performance envelope, a geothermal field, and a roof mounted solar panel array.
The project will achieve a closed loop water system by utilizing a well for water and a subsurface water treatment system. Rainwater will also be harvested from the roof for agricultural use on the farm.
The site is strategically located to build off of the existing farm road network to minimize new site impervious surfaces. The site is also located close to Dickinson's biodigester complex. Site Plan by Simone Collins Landscape Architecture.
The project began with a 50 person visioning charrette. Attendees were treated to a hay-ride farm tour led by students! Photograph by Dickinson College.
The charrette featured students, faculty, farmers, designers, and community members visioning "what good looks like" for FARM Lab.