BERTSCHI LIVING BUILDING SCIENCE WING
Seattle, Washington, United states of America | Living Certified
The Bertschi Living Building Science Wing is sited on a crowded urban elementary school campus. Though space is at a premium, the project takes advantage of both vertical and horizontal planting methods to incorporate extensive urban agriculture both on and off the site. A pre-European landscape of tubers, berries and leaves surrounds the building, making an ethnobotanical garden that is both productive and educational. Not only are the plants harvested and incorporated into the school’s curriculum, but every species is also tagged with a QR code so that students and visitors can explore and learn on their own. Additionally, this project took advantage of the Scale Jumping allowance to install a small vegetable garden beyond the project boundary. Students plant, grow, harvest and rotate crops and then work together to create a meal in the classroom made from the vegetables they have nurtured. This garden forms the central focus of a community collaboration amongst local Master Gardeners, the Seattle Tilth, and the Bertschi School to provide an after-school gardening program.
