Breaking the Fourth Wall: Week of May 22

Today we continue the weekly "Breaking the Fourth Wall" series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovative or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

Image Credit: Union Studio Architects 

In keeping with this week's Rhode Island theme, today we travel to the idyllic coastal setting of Tiverton, R.I., where green innovations, artistic energy, and New England-style community spirit are fueling a remarkable affordable housing endeavor. Sandywoods Farm, a 170-acre community that features 74 single-family homes, 50 of which will be affordable rental units, combines Rhode Island's agricultural past with an industrious future.

Winds of Change

Perhaps the most striking attribute of Sandywoods Farm is the progressive and sustainable force that drives it. A 250-KW wind turbine was recently constructed to provide 85 percent of the community's required energy and underscores Union Studio Architecture & Community Design's mission of creating an affordable development project that is "ecologically sensitive." Wind energy has expanded rapidly in the coastal communities of Rhode Island and Massachusetts in recent years, but Sandywoods Farm may be the first incorporation of a turbine in affordable housing. In addition to wind energy, many of the community's homes were built with

Image Credit: Union Studio 

sustainable materials like partially recycled fiberglass pre-finished siding, renewable bamboo flooring, high-efficiency heat pumps, and passive solar canopies.

An Artistic Touch 

Though a variety of people will undoubtedly take up residence in Sandywoods' 50 affordable rental units and 24 market-rate homes, the project's principals designed Sandywoods Farm with artists in mind. Many policymakers' hands have been wrung in the effort to provide affordable housing and work space for artists in today's increasingly creative-based economy and Sandywoods represents a meaningful effort to make these spaces attainable for working artists. Half the tenants chosen for Sandywoods' affordable rental units are working artists in Rhode Island, who provide an undeniable creative energy to the community and are planning to utilize many of the community's common spaces for artistic performance and installation aimed at the entire Tiverton community.

Blending New Urbanism and Old-Time Community

Image Credit: Union Studio 

The community's aesthetic incorporates many elements praised by the "New Urbanism" and the disciples of famous urban theorist Jane Jacobson. Sandywoods Farm features homes with broad front porches, walkable sidewalks and streets, community walking trails linked to Tiverton, and a community house ("Grange Hall") that encourage neighbor interaction and a strong sense of community. Implementation of New Urbanist principles works hand in hand with historical development patterns of the New England village, and the cozy cluster of Sandywoods' homes combines the community-oriented goals of the old and new.

Back to the Future of Farming 

Tiverton has long been an agrarian community and Sandywoods Farm seeks to continue this farming legacy well into the twenty-first century. The community is surrounded by agricultural land, boasts a "resident farmer" and Americorps volunteer who facilitates agricultural and arts education programs at the Grange Hall, and a community garden. The bounty from the community garden is shared with the local community beyond the edge of Sandywoods at community markets held at the Grange Hall.