Civic Ecology – Programming…first attempt

My first attempt at researching how to try to programming a building that could stand at the center (literally and figuratively) of an eco-district and I’ve come across an interesting model that could accommodate smaller community organizations, of which Portland has many, that shares its resources in the same way an eco-district shares resources. In researching the topic I came across the concept of Civic Ecology in a presentation hosted on PSU’s website on their proposed eco-district. The presentation was by Tim Smith of SERA architects and you can download the entire thing in PDF for under the Civic Engagement Breakfast on the University EcoDistrict Part2 header. The concept really struck me as a way to tie the concept of an EcoDistrict into the building scale. One example I found that works somewhat in this manner is The Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto (check out the website – i’d totally work there). I’d like my building to host to local organizations that are working within the eco-district and this model of rent as much as you need and share the functional resources of an office across the board is a model that seems far more sustainable and reasonable economically than individual organizations renting a space and having to provide photocopiers, printers, internet access etc. for each group renting space in the building. Here’s an excerpt from their website on the options for different groups:

Offices

Our offices range in price from $900 – $2,600 per month, and are ideally suited for 1-4 staff.

Permanent Desk Space

We have Permanent Desk spaces for $365/month that give you 24/7 access to your own workspace and 10 hours of meeting room space per month.

We’ve also created a variety of flexible Hot Desk packages tailored to your needs:

Hot Desk 5 – $75 for 5 hours of desk space time and 2 hours of boardroom time per month

Hot Desk 20 – $125 for 20 hours of desk space time and 3 hours of boardroom time per month

Hot Desk 60 – $200 for 60 hours of desk space time and 6 hours of boardroom time per month

Hot Desk 100 – $250 for 100 hours of desk space time and 8 hours of boardroom time per month

I think the model is a very interesting way to create an affordable and unique environment for users. There would be more opportunity for shared spaces and interaction between varied user groups. It would offer a very flexible plan for small organizations that may not have the resources or need to rent an individual office space regularly but may need meeting space at a regular location once a month for example. I only came across this example today so I’d love to get in contact with them soon to find out how this model works more specifically. I’m also working on getting in contact with Dennis Wilde from Gerding Edlen who gave a presentation to my studio two weeks ago on Eco-Districts to see what kind of opportunities there might be for consolidating the concept of an eco-district from the neighborhood scale to the building scale. This week I had the chance to pick the brain of a good friend of mine who has spent about 3 years working with various sized non-profits and asked her what she thought about this the model of the Social Innovation Centre. She thought it was a really great way to help smaller organizations become more established and present a more professional image if they had dedicated space that was available at the times they needed. Also she said it would obviously be an economic win for them as well because of the access to shared resources. Personally I also think the social benefits of this type of work space would draw a very specific user and I think the concept of shared spaces on a membership basis could work for spaces other than offices. Just brainstorming I think it could be applied to:

Large meeting rooms

Auditorium space

cafeteria

lobby/reception

classrooms

outdoor space

storage

production facilities

parking – bike & car

transit – bus/max/street car

Also – if placed within an eco-district theoretically the building could also become a player in the energy production, water treatment, heating & cooling exchange etc.

I think my next step is to get in contact with the Centre for Social Innovation and find out how their administration functions so I can get a better idea of how groups and individuals use the spaces.

Here’s a photo of some of the individual desks – sort of reminds me of studio