Nest We Grow

Each year, Japan’s LIXIL JS Foundation holds a university design competition focused on sustainable housing technologies. The 2014 theme was Productive Garden and the winning project, Nest We Grow, has since been constructed at the foundation’s Memu Meadows Farm. Described by the WoodWorks jury as an “intelligent structure,” Nest includes a skin of translucent polycarbonate over a glulam frame. The ground floor grid is comprised of nine composite columns, which are notched to receive the beams and girders, and connected with steel plates. Initial analysis called for both vertical and horizontal steel rod cross bracing due to strict building codes for seismic loads. However, the team was able to eliminate the horizontal steel cross bracing by using wood cross bracing in the two upper catwalks. In addition to the carbon stored in the wood, the team reduced the carbon footprint of Nest by using locally harvested and manufactured wood products. This 1,577-sf project was completed for a construction cost of $250,000 US.