Greenhousing

This week the green house team has been focused on promoting the greenhouse as a fully functional design for plant growth, but also making it a suitable classroom for the school children.

Shelving for seedlings and other utilities was finalized and constructed. Shelving was able to span between supports notched into the existing wall and structurally supportive willow branches on the outside. The wood used for the shelving is reclaimed floor boards that would have otherwise been thrown out for their imperfections and the willow branches tie into the aesthetic of the schools existing material pallet.



Top soil was brought in and the garden beds were dug out to a final depth. With the greenhouse team only consisting of two people at the time, additional local labor was provided to help with the rock removal and soil preparation.



Once the garden beds were at the appropriate depths and squared off, a new team was asked to assist in the mixing of the earth and finalization of the beds. They were young Drukpas with an expertise in greenhouses and farming. Here's a link to their website if you would like to learn more about them and what they do:
http://www.l2love.org/index.php/1794
With their knowledge and assistance, the mixing of the new earth and spreading of it was done with a cultural perfection and beauty.



With the mixing and spreading of the earth only taking half of the day, the rest of the day was spent formalizing and weeding the beds. Channels were dug for the water flooding and drainage and appropriately sized beds were moulded for the children. In the center of the greenhouse an area remains for a class of 30 students to gather and learn about the plants in a classroom type setting.



The idea of the greenhouse being more of a classroom as a greenhouse has motivated many of the new aspects of the design. While meeting with some of the science teachers, it was well conveyed that an area in the middle for class size gatherings was very important. This allowed the students to be learn in a group and then disperse amongst the plants to learn about them in different ways. Keeping with the new classroom setting, a chalkboard will also be hung inside the greenhouse for class teachings and illustrations.



The documentation of the greenhouse has been accumulating, this has been done through photographs, hand sketches, and digital modeling. Shown below are a few of the latest documentation items that are being finalized this week.


Axonometric drawing


Summer wind and sun conditions