Olson Kundig recently unveiled the design of the world’s first facility for “natural organic reduction,” a process that gently converts human remains into soil in about 30 days. The project was designed in partnership with, and for, Recompose, the company that offers this natural organic reduction service.
Dubbed Recompose|SEATTLE, the 18,500-sf facility will be built in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood (Washington became the first in the world to legalize this process for the disposition of human remains in April of this year). This third alternative to traditional burials and cremations uses one-eighth the energy of cremation and saves one metric ton of carbon dioxide per person. About one cubic yard of soil is created per person. Friends and family can take some or all of the soil home to grow a tree or garden, with the rest going to nourish conservation land in the Puget Sound region.
The Recompose process is centered around individual natural organic reduction vessels that transform the human remains into clean, usable soil. About 75 of these vessels will be stacked and arranged via a modular system to create a central gathering space in the core of the facility.
See Also: Kisawa Sanctuary will be a luxury resort 3D printed from sand
While it may sound a bit macabre at first, the facility is designed to be bright and open, with an emphasis on nature, which makes sense, considering nature was the basis for the recomposition process. “We asked ourselves how we could use nature, which has perfected the life-death cycle, as a model for human death care,” said Katriba Spade, Founder and CE, Recompose, in a release. “We saw an opportunity for this profound moment to both give back to the earth and reconnect us with thee natural cycles.”
The facility is slated to open in spring 2021.
Related Stories
| Mar 21, 2011
Environmental Protection Agency says D.C. is No. 1 in green
Less than a month after the U.S. Green Building Council gave D.C. top honors for green building, the Environmental Protection Agency has named the District the top green city. The EPA names the District the nation's
| Mar 18, 2011
ESD announces senior management changes
Environmental Systems Design, Inc., an international leader in the design of high performance building systems, announced senior management changes that include Raj Gupta (a member of BD+C's editorial advisory board) becoming the firm’s chief executive officer, replacing Hem Gupta, who remains chairman, and Kurt Karnatz being named president.
| Mar 17, 2011
USGBC collaborates to develop LEED Demand Response Credit
Skipping Stone, Schneider Electric and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announced today the formation of a committee tasked with enhancing the current Demand Response LEED Pilot Credit. The team will collaborate on enhancing the credit to enable commercial building owners and LEED green building projects to earn credits in LEED for enrolling in utility or wholesale market demand response programs.
| Mar 17, 2011
Carbon footprint of public sector buildings in England and Wales to be released
The energy usage of 40,146 public buildings—including schools, hospitals, and offices—in England and Wales is being released to the public.
| Mar 16, 2011
Foster + Partners to design carbon-neutral urban park for West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong
Foster + Partners has been selected by the board of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority to design a massive 56-acre urban park on a reclaimed harbor-front site in Hong Kong. Designed as a carbon-neutral development, “City Park” will seamlessly blend into existing streets while creating large expanses of green space and seventeen new cultural venues.
| Mar 16, 2011
CALGreen v. LEED: How does California's new green building code compare to LEED?
The California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen), the country’s first statewide green building code, seeks to establish minimum green building standards for the majority of residential and commercial new construction projects across California. As the requirements of CALGreen take effect this year, many wonder how the new code compares with other established green building standards, such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system. Let’s review…
| Mar 11, 2011
Texas A&M mixed-use community will focus on green living
HOK, Realty Appreciation, and Texas A&M University are working on the Urban Living Laboratory, a 1.2-million-sf mixed-use project owned by the university. The five-phase, live-work-play project will include offices, retail, multifamily apartments, and two hotels.
| Mar 10, 2011
Steel Joists Clean Up a Car Wash’s Carbon Footprint
Open-web bowstring trusses and steel joists give a Utah car wash architectural interest, reduce its construction costs, and help green a building type with a reputation for being wasteful.
| Mar 9, 2011
Hoping to win over a community, Facebook scraps its fortress architecture
Facebook is moving from its tony Palo Alto, Calif., locale to blue-collar Belle Haven, and the social network want to woo residents with community-oriented design.
