The project began as a 3 part design task: aquaponics
farm, restaurant, and body of water. The site assigned
was an L-shaped parking lot in the middle of the
museum district of Philadelphia. The aquaponics far is
the 2-story zig-zag building on the left of the site with
two reflecting pools and a public market. The zig-zag
was created intentionally to maximize the amount of
natural light throughout the day coming from the south
and southwest. The second floor is cantilevered from the
first floor. This farm is intended to house fish and plants
for commercial sale and use in the restaurant.
The pond is a 7-foot deep outdoor aquarium with glass
walls on the three exposed sides. The side walk on the
sides slopes down with the terrain and the glass walls
become more exposed as the terrain slopes further. The
pond is intended to house fish for the aquaponics farm.
The restaurant was designed as an oasis in the middle
of the busy museum district The first two thirds of the
first floor are anchored on land with the remaining third
cantilevered over the pond. The second floor continues
the same structure of the first floor with the exception
of an overhang over the entrance and an overhang deck
over the water side. The two floors are connected via
a glass encased staircase cantilevered from the exterior
wall. The spaces over the water are characterized by floor
to ceiling glass walls and doors.