North Philly Peace Park Pavilion
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Project
Summary
Founded in 2012 by a grassroots group of neighborhood residents, the North Philly Peace Park has grown into a popular eco-campus and passive park that provides free programs for organic and sustainable urban farming, STEAM-based programs, community partnerships, and a local entrepreneur incubator. The Peace Park Pavilion will host classes, after school tutoring, events, and workshops while also serving as a community center. Designed to be net-zero energy and off-the-grid, the Pavilion will be a demonstration tool for sustainability practices to the community members.
The Pavilion integrates the local rowhouse typology with a flexible and open-plan classroom, display kitchen, and wraparound porch that engages the street and park. Community workshops were held to develop a design which collectively represents the park’s vision for a sustainable pavilion and educational facility on its campus.
The construction of the pavilion is envisioned as a community project using both volunteer labor and collaboration with YouthBuild Philly, a non-profit organization that provides education and job skills training to unemployed young adults. The design utilizes common dimensional lumber and modest, readily available materials to form a modular kit of parts that is rewarding and instructional for the community members participating in the building process.
