The Depot | Rural. Modern. Full of life.
How: Creating a sustainable, affordable, pedestrian first place for people to live & play.
What: Mixed Use of commercial space and apartments with additional public space.
Where: Downtown of Greeneville, Tennessee, USA
When: In planning, target completion by end of 2023.
The Depot
Type: Independent Development Project
Project Lead: Ferris Ellis, Urban Dynamics
Collaborators: Arnold Design Studio
Status: Feasibility Phase Complete. Currently Planning, Securing Resources, and Fund Raising.
A vision for quality of life in rural Tennessee.
Many rural American towns are having their housing situations worsen and their downtowns struggle as the 21st century progresses. The Depot is a project specifically designed to address these problems, and more, for the town of Greeneville, Tennessee. By providing quality, affordable housing and small business space only a block from the center of downtown, The Depot brings the source of a vibrant downtown back: people. The project will bring over a dozen people living downtown and over a half dozen small shops for local businesses, along with public space for anyone to use.
Walk to work, coffee, or lunch.
Have a place to gather & socialize.
Wander and explore public life.
Empower truly local business.
Breathe knowing it’s sustainable.
Making what is old into what is new.
The Depot is equal parts past and future. It takes the now dilapidated Yates Building in Greeneville, built in 1954, and transforms it into something timeless and visionary.
Potential design for the front of The Depot. The bottom floor will enter into a market space style commercial space with the above space being residential apartments.
The front of the current Yates Building. The roof has deteriorated allowing you to see the sky through the second story windows.
Functions
The Depot is designed to incorporate a number of different functions into a single, coherent location.
Public Court Yard
Downtown Greeneville, Tennessee lacks public space designed to be occupied for a mixture of leisure, business, and food. A core part of The Depot is to provide some of this in a way that is welcoming and accessible to all. Because this space faces a small forest, incorporation of greenery and natural elements is key. See references for design references below.
“Place every courtyard in such a way that there is a way out of it onto some larger open space; place it so that at least two or three doors open from the building into it and so that the natural paths which connect these doors pass across the court yard.”
Public space in Budapest, sourced from here.
Stable Cafe in San Francisco, sourced from here.
Ubud Monkey Forest in Bali, sourced from here.
Local Business Market
Market’s have been key for local small business for thousands of years. They provide a destination to consumers and businesses with efficient use of space. They also provide economic accessibility to small businesses which could not otherwise afford to rent a commercial space. See references for design references below.
“Pike’s Place Market in Seattle houses 85 farmers, 225 artists, and 240 small vendors which collectively do $150,000,000 in revenue.”
Apartment Living
Affordable, quality living is key to any thriving community and economy. Apartments provided by The Depot aim to provide a maximum quality of life experience at a very accessible cost. All apartment will provide access to lots of natural light, modern appliances, and sustainable low upkeep materials. See references for design references below.
Sustainable for all.
Sustainability has become a political word, which is ridiculous. Let’s change that. The Depot is designed to achieve sustainability via three goals:
Quarter millennium lifespan. Most buildings designed today are only intended to last ~50 years. We prefer a challenge, so The Depot aims to last 5 times as long: 250 years. So you could say it is saving the local economic from having to pay for another four buildings. Just sayin’.
Onsite Power Generation. When you pay $0.10/kWh for electricity, odds are roughly half of that cost is from the miles of power lines needed to get it to you. By doing onsite power generation, The Depot aims to provide onsite electricity generation to residents and businesses there which saves them money. It just makes sense and saves cents.
Minimal Waste. Buildings and landfills are both expensive, let’s minimize waste and save money for everyone. By incorporating some of the Zero Waste Design Guidelines, The Depot aims to reduce the cost of buildings and maintenance. That cuts out impact to residents monthly rent and landfill impact.
“Sustainability for new developments means building something that will last for centuries and provides a Triple Bottom Line by benefiting the economy, society, and the environment. Developments without it are just boring.”
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