flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Manhattan’s Union Square gets its very own farmhouse

Mixed-Use

Manhattan’s Union Square gets its very own farmhouse

GrowNYC, a sustainability-focused nonprofit, commissioned ORE Design to create the community events center and learning space.


By David Malone, Associate Editor | August 17, 2017
Interior of the GrowNYC multifunctional area

Photo: AGP Amanda Gentle Photography

An unused space has been repurposed as a multifunctional community area, bringing GrowNYC’s fresh food markets, recycling resource locations, and local garden support under one roof.

GrowNYC, a sustainability-focused nonprofit, commissioned ORE Design to create the community events center and learning space, located near Union Square in Manhattan. Dubbed Farmhouse, the center includes a classroom forum, educational kitchen, and conference center. The rooms can be combined to operate as a fundraising venue.

Suspended acoustic baffles made from recycled water bottles translate the traditional geometry of the American farmhouse into an abstract ceiling motif that guides visitors throughout the environment. Reflective solar tubes illuminate a feature wall. An existing mechanical shaft in the center of the room was turned into a mirrored jewel box for a vertical hydroponic wall. The educational kitchen and large storage closets were built below an existing fire stair to create an additional projection surface. The result is a modern building with hints of classic American farmhouse architecture.

Related Stories

Mixed-Use | Jun 21, 2021

Design team of Gensler and Manning selected to design The River District

The mixed-use neighborhood will be built along the Mississippi River in New Orleans.

Mixed-Use | Jun 17, 2021

London’s former Old War Office building set to become hotel and residences

The building had been closed to the public for over a century.

Mixed-Use | Jun 14, 2021

SB Architects and LandDesign unveil design for Rivana at Innovation Station

The development is located 25 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C.

Mixed-Use | Jun 10, 2021

Safdie Architects unveils design for ORCA Toronto

The project comprises nine towers in total.

Mixed-Use | Jun 7, 2021

Henning Larsen designs an active community hub for London

The project will be the firm’s first in London.

Mixed-Use | Jun 2, 2021

World’s tallest detached-core building completes in Shenzhen

Morphosis designed the project.

Mixed-Use | May 24, 2021

33-story glass mixed-use tower to rise in downtown Orlando

DLR Group is designing the project.

Mixed-Use | May 24, 2021

Olson Kundig unveils new mixed-use high-rise in Atlanta

The project is currently under construction along Atlanta’s BeltLine.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category



MFPRO+ Special Reports

Top 10 trends in affordable housing

Among affordable housing developers today, there’s one commonality tying projects together: uncertainty. AEC firms share their latest insights and philosophies on the future of affordable housing in BD+C's 2023 Multifamily Annual Report.


halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021