XERO Project Wins Re:Vision Design Competition for Zero-Energy Development in Downtown Dallas
July 2, 2009 | Levent OZLER
XERO Project, a proposal for a new urban agriculture district and zero-energy, mixed-use development in downtown Dallas, earned one of three first-place prizes in the Re:Vision Dallas design competition. Designed by San Francisco-based David Baker + Partners Architects and Fletcher Studio, the proposal will be considered for implementation by the competition's development partners as early as fall 2009.
The juried international competition-led by the City of Dallas and Urban Re:Vision in partnership with Central Dallas Community Development Corporation and building community Workshop-sought to spur bold visions for sustainable urban development by asking, "What if one block in Texas became the sustainable model for the world?" Urban Re:Vision received more than 125 proposals.
XERO Project reaches beyond the one-block competition site located near Dallas's city hall to propose a new district that enacts a symbiosis of agriculture and daily life. Two intersecting greenways, pieced together from open space and disused sites, connect existing public amenities and provide a framework for future development and cultivation. At the greenways' intersection, the zero-energy development and a new public square with orchards and garden plots serve as the district's heart.
The mixed-use development is designed to meet density and sustainability requirements while catalyzing the broader district vision. A spiraling base composed of micro-retail and townhouses engages with the scale and purpose of the ground-level gardens and open spaces that occupy most of the block.
Food grown within the urban agriculture district will be sold through the project's affordable market spaces. The proximity of cultivation and consumption will also provide unprecedented opportunities for community education.
The residential tower incorporates passive and active systems to achieve a high level of resource efficiency. Planted screens and photovoltaic panels integrated into the south-facing façade shield the units from direct sun. Through-ventilation-which is made possible by the single-loaded plan-along with skip-stop elevators, a ground-source heat pump, and a hybrid desiccant system, further reduce energy use. Water harvesting and reuse systems ilter and collect rainwater for irrigation and other uses through visible systems within the greenways.
XERO Project was designed by Ian Dunn, Mark Hogan, Amanda Loper, and Amit C. Price Patel of David Baker + Partners Architects, and David Fletcher and Sarah Donato of Fletcher Studio.
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