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 | Oct 19, 2020

Commonwealth Pier revitalization project begins construction in Boston’s Seaport

CBT, in collaboration with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects designed the project.

Mixed-Use | Oct 2, 2020

Zaha Hadid Architects unveils 2 Murray Road in Hong Kong

The project reinterprets the structural forms and layering of a Bauhinia bud about to blossom.

Reconstruction & Renovation | Sep 30, 2020

SOM reimagines former Cook County Hospital into mixed-use destination

The project is the first phase of a proposed $1 billion redevelopment plan for the area in Chicago.

Mixed-Use | Sep 23, 2020

SOM-designed waterfront neighborhood will include 1,045-foot-tall tower

The project will focus on harnessing the sea and the sun to create a low-carbon waterfront community.

Mixed-Use | Sep 7, 2020

Google proposes 40-acre redevelopment that includes nearly 2,000 housing units

Lendlease will manage the design and construction, as a partner in a multi-development deal struck last year between the two companies.

Mixed-Use | Sep 3, 2020

10 Design will redevelop the Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport

The old military airport will become a contemporary mixed-use destination.

Mixed-Use | Aug 17, 2020

New Sydney towers will have the world’s first AI-driven facade system

SOM and Fender Katsalidis are designing the project.

Mixed-Use | Aug 4, 2020

San Jose’s new tallest building tops out

Steinberg Hart designed the project.

Mixed-Use | Jul 27, 2020

$92 million reconstruction of St. Petersburg Municipal Pier completes

Rogers Partners, ASD | SKY, and landscape architect Ken Smith Workshop designed the project.

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