Vassar Quarterly - Spring 2018 - 24

SPrINg 2018

REUSE , RECYCLE , REFRE SH

Below: Kate Farquhar and
team recently won the
prestigious international
Play Space competition
with a design that would
create new green playgrounds directly on top
of aging pavement.
Top right: Once an abandoned railroad spur, the
renewed High Line in New
York City inspired other
urban areas to reclaim
derelict spaces for connection and relaxation.
Bottom right: Linda Yowell's
renovation of the Packer
Collegiate Institute in
Brooklyn resulted in efficient, modern updates to
the 19th-century building.

Over the past decade, sustainability in architecture
has gone from being a trendy add-on to an essential
element of good building design. Elements that
were once reserved for a small number of environmentally sensitive projects-like fuel-efficient HVAC
systems, insulated windows, and low-flow water
systems-are now standard across the industry,
and no serious project goes forward without at
least considering applying for LEED (Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.
As the industry becomes more environmentally
conscious, however, there has been a growing
realization that one of the greatest opportunities for
cutting waste and greenhouse gas emissions is in
limiting the construction of buildings themselves.
"One of the most sustainable artifacts we have is
existing buildings," says Van Lengen, "but we tend
to get rid of them and throw away the materials and
start again." There's a new trend toward adaptive
reuse and retrofitting old buildings with energysaving technologies and modern amenities.
Architect Linda Yowell '73 is an expert in finding
that balance between old and new. For a renovation
of the 19th-century Packer Collegiate Institute in
Brooklyn, for example, she and her firm, Hudson
Studio Architects, worked to uncover the original
architecture and essence of the five campus
buildings built between 1854 and 1955, while
adding modern technology, lighting, and furnishings for 21st-century learning.
"We began by trying to understand what the
original designer wanted to do and why," Yowell
says. At the same time, she has been able to
upgrade the school's off-campus Early Learning
Center with energy-efficient, triple-glazed
windows that match historic profiles and finishes,
adding Passive House insulation, as well as an
energy recovery ventilation system that recaptures
heat and energy that would otherwise be lost to
the outside. As the project progressed, she brought
in modern LED lighting to bring light levels up
to today's standards. One of the most striking
elements is an interactive technological display in
the science wing with large portraits of scientists
and touchscreens with information on different
fields. "It's something they can get pulled into and

Clockwise from left, courtesy Kate Farquhar / Iwan Baan / courtesy Linda Yowell

Creating places for urban children to experience
nature is also the goal of Kate Farquhar '05, a
landscape designer at Philadelphia-based
Roofmeadow. With a design proposal that would
create new green landscapes directly on top of
aging pavement, she recently led her office to
a win in the prestigious international Play Space
competition.
Farquhar learned her craft through the creation
of green roofs, using various species of sedum
plants, mosses that grow together into a sturdy
carpet that can withstand extreme wind conditions
in elevated environments. She's now bringing that
concept to terra firma in what she calls a "veneer
strategy" to cover old pavement. "You can build
up a landscape without doing wholesale site
demolition, which can be such a costly part of a
project," she says. By avoiding the expense of
demolishing and carting away often contaminated
soil, she is hoping more parks will be built in urban
neighborhoods. Farquhar is working on a pilot
project in Waterloo Park in West Philadelphia,
which currently has a basketball court and pool,
but no green space. She intends to rectify that.
"When kids play in nature, it is highly conducive to
more creative, undirected forms of play," she says.
By building up a new landscape, she is hoping to
bring a bit of natural wildness into the area,
bringing green space to kids who sorely need it.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vassar Quarterly - Spring 2018