URBAN BIOPHILLIC PAVILION

pittsburgh, pennsylvania

Located atop a nineteenth century rowhouse in the South Side "Flats," this pavilion is a reconstruction of a rooftop greenhouse originally built in 1978 by the homeowners themselves. This greenhouse allowed them to garden year-round in a dense urban context which did not provide for any ground level plantings. Fresh air and, in the winter, excess heat and greenhouse fragrances were delivered to the apartments below through a recycled furnace blower motor.

The new pavilion's structural enclosure is similar conceptually to the Russian "Matryoshka" nested dolls -- "a structure within a structure." The main supporting structure is within and is made of exposed douglas fir while the outside enclosure is made of standard wood construction, glass, and terne coated stainless steel. In its new form, the pavilion serves as a biophillic garden for the tenants with both indoor and outdoor hydroponic gardening areas. The pavilion now acts as a "common room" that the tenants can use year-round and includes two outside deck platforms providing spectacular views of the South Side Flats and Slopes, Mt. Washington, and Downtown Pittsburgh.

The pavilion will also act as a supplemental heat source for the apartments (for both heating and hot water) through an energy recovery ventilator (ERV), which will capture 90% of the energy from the ventilated air.