The 21 Acres Center for Local Food and Sustainable Living is an innovative, community-driven project that will serve as an agricultural and environmental learning center for people of all ages. It is an “agri-urban park” that is accessible to the whole community! 21 Acres includes a bio-diverse farmstead with trails for physical activity, interpretive educational signage, and cultivated farm plots used to demonstrate sustainable and organic farming practices. 21 Acres will educate both young and old about where our food comes from and how locally grown food plays a crucial role in a sustainable lifestyle. Our partnerships with various local schools and youth groups provide kids with opportunities for hands-on discovery in an outdoor environment.

The 21 Acres Farmers Market

Market Goes Green

An Agricultural Center  is the anchor component of the 21 Acres property.  Situated in the front acreage of the site, the Center will be a secured, covered “green” facility that provides a year-round venue for regional small farmers to sell their goods and offers Sammamish Valley residents a welcoming alternative to traditional supermarkets.

Designed by architect D. Vince Carlson of Evitavonni Architecture, the Agricultural Building will be a 17,000 square foot facility that has been envisioned as a self-sustaining and energy-efficient (renewable) structure to be built with green principles and materials. The building will include stalls for market vendors and farmers, areas for educational displays and produce sales, dry storage and cold storage facilities for farmers, and sit-down eating areas for families coming to the market.  The Center will be surrounded by a vast outdoor patio area that will enable pedestrian traffic to flow in and out of the building as people shop, eat, and explore the atmosphere. 

All materials used in construction will be environmentally friendly and low-impact.  We will use this facility as an opportunity to educate the public about tools we can use in our homes every day to make a positive difference in the environment

Our building will be capped by a showpiece Living Roof — a rooftop garden that supports a responsible stormwater management system.  When rain falls on open, undisturbed land, water goes through its natural cycle and later returns to the atmosphere through plant evaporation and transpiration. However, when rain falls onto buildings with impervious surface cover, a staggering 75% of the rainwater becomes surface runoff which often drains into open water bodies, polluting them. By installing a Living Roof, we will be able to mitigate the impact of our new construction on the surrounding land and reduce our future water use by 20% to 25%. The Living Roof will also provide an educational laboratory for the community to learn about the issues surrounding water reuse and conservation.

By using innovative elements such as solar panels and composting toilets in our design and by bringing local farmers in direct contact with consumers, 21 Acres’ unique design will demonstrate that there are smarter and more ecologically sensitive ways for people to interact with their environment.

The Community Kitchen and Learning Center

 Education is one of the most important and exciting aspects of this project. Whether that means teaching a child how weather and rainfall impact the growth process in the fields or showing a homeowner how composting can improve the quality of his yard, the 21 Acres Center will provide numerous opportunities for community members of all ages to learn more about caring for the environment and living healthier lives.

Our primary goal is to connect the community to the land and the farmer to the community in a meaningful, productive, and sustainable way.  We will be able to do this by operating a Community Kitchen and Learning Center that offer a diverse roster of educational opportunities.

SOMETHING’S COOKING

Housed in the Agricultural Building, the Community Kitchen will be a fully-equipped commercial-grade kitchen that will be made available at affordable rates to community groups for healthful cooking classes and to small farmers for the creation of value-added products to take to market.  The development of a shared community kitchen has recently been cited as a priority by King County – these facilities provide small farmers and entrepreneurs with affordable means of creating products for the marketplace and enhancing their own economic sustainability.

LIFELONG LEARNING

The Learning Center will feature classroom and meeting spaces available to community groups at low-cost.  We will partner with instructors and experts in the community to plan classes in all areas of lifestyle enhancement — from nutritional guidance to the business of small farming.

FACT:
"Buildings in the United States use 30% of the energy produced."