On Friday, July 17th, Rodale Institute hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on the Center for Regenerative Organic Innovation, with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson team members, collaborators, and hundreds of farmers and supporters in attendance. The event featured remarks from Rodale Institute and Pennsylvania state leadership, including Rodale CEO Jeff Tkach, COO David Wiley, Dean of Education Renée Baran, PA Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, and State Senator Judy Schwank, closing with a ceremonial tossing of soil in front of the historic Siegfried Barn. The project marks the beginning of a phased master plan to support the Institute’s global leadership in regenerative organic agriculture through improved facilities for education, research, farm operations, and visitor experiences for the farm’s nearly 50,000 annual visitors.

Working with Alvin H. Butz Construction, the project will modernize and expand the 200-year-old Pennsylvania Dutch-style Siegfried Barn to provide a new employee workplace and flexible classrooms for farmer education on Rodale’s main campus in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. Rodale’s Dean of Education, Renée Baran, emphasized that their goal is “for farmers to leave with useful knowledge, real world experience and greater confidence. Community is really important to farmers, and this facility provides a space for them to engage with each other.” The project includes an adaptive reuse of the existing barn and a 5,400 square-foot addition to the structure. A ridge skylight and polycarbonate walls at the barn’s east and west gables will provide ample natural light to the interiors. The addition will feature glue-laminated timber beams and roofs, relating to the historic timber frame of the existing barn, and will incorporate regional bluestone into the building base and landscape features.

Utilizing all-electric and geothermal mechanical systems, the project is targeting LEED platinum certification in alignment with the desired net zero emissions goals.