Four students from the School of Architecture at the University of Waterloo took second place in an international design competition involving the use of steel.
Callum Nolan, Ethan Paddock, Patrick Stephen and Colin Williams designed a hub for urban farming and community development in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Detroit.
“As the community collective works in solidarity to improve the nutritional needs of the neighborhood, a sense of accomplishment, pride and commitment is also developed – which leads to a cohesive and cooperative community environment,” they wrote in a project description.
The 2020 Steel Design Student Competition was sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.
Exploring the use of steel
In one of two categories, architecture students were challenged to explore the use of steel in design and construction by designing a hub for urban food production and distribution.
The second-place Waterloo project, dubbed From ‘AgriHood’ to AgriHUB, builds on an existing urban farming initiative in Detroit, which has experienced massive decay since once being the fourth-largest city in the United States.
The project features expanded community gardens, market spaces, teaching and commercial kitchens, a plant library, an industrial growing area, and a packaging and distribution centre. It includes the reuse of a decommissioned church building and a retrofitted warehouse.
“The students’ approach of taking a minimum gesture in material and making it a grand elegant presentation, takes the design to a whole new level,” the judges wrote.
The students were supervised by architecture professor Terri Meyer Boake.