360 Living Silos - COT Competition
Urban Design Category
2nd place winner
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This National competition required each team to develop a urban design proposal that is sustainable, socially just, site specific, and original. It could be a new type of zoning for tiny houses, a rooftop gadget, a mixed use space rented by the hour, or re-imagining transportation in an entire metropolitan area. Site is not given, but the team has to choose a site or it could flexible for mass production.
360 Living Silos
Vacant silos across the country are ubiquitous. What can be done with giant grain storage containers, in both rural and industrial areas, in order to transform them into communiy assets? Housing is considered a premium, and rapud structures, which are flexible, sustainable, and adaptive, are just the solution we are looking for, 360 living silos is an example of a sustainable adaptive use plan that can be built in a matter of days. whether it is in an industrial or rural setting, the 360 living silos will transform abandoned grain silos into reusable, energy efficient, and versatile.
Economic & Political Feasabiltiy
As is the case with most things in life, politics and fiscal responsibilities are in interactably tied together in this project. By utilizing government programs at the federal and state levels that offers stipends and incentives for adaptive reuse projects, NGO’s, and historic preservation, the budget of this projet is sustainable as well. After those two primary sources, our second fiscal supports will involve business leaders in this emerging model. It may take time to get traction for funding, but monetary support systems can make this housing truly affordable ranging from 175$-250$ per square foot or at the rentable rate of about 5000$ annually.
Ecological Impact
By adapting these structures for reuse, we not only save money and materials from excessive demolition, but we also lminimize our imprints upon the land surrounding the silos. The modular structure of the development plan allows for rapid inhabitation and promotes conservation of space. The pods will not only house things for which the community sees a need for, but spaces that can easily be converted to an alternative use without change to the overall structure.
The pads that make up 360 living silos are in accordance with the needs of the community. The pads that can be inserted into the silo could be apartments, low income housing, student housing, classroom spaces, business incubator, or anything the community decides there is a need for. By having the community take an active hand in the adaption of their silos, the project is one for the people, by the people, minimalizing the silence that once stood up in its place. By retaining the structural integrity of the silos we seek to allow the communities in which they are located retain a connection to their bustling industrial pasts, leaving those lone sentinels of the landscape not as wounded warriors, but proud veteran.
Final Board Submission
