By Tom Braford
We were very sorry to hear recently that Tim Montgomery, our local architect at Arizmendi Ecovillage, had been diagnosed with a rapidly debilitating condition. Sadly, he chose to resign from the project and hand off completion of final design to new team members, but his moral authority and commitment to collaboration continue to guide our efforts.
Over the years, through thick and thin, Tim has always been there, standing for what is fair for everyone while keeping the dream of cooperative ecological community at this site alive and moving towards fruition. That is why we have decided to name the next major piece at Arizmendi after Tim, following the EcoHogan that we talked about last month. The design for this second piece of the project has Tim’s fingerprints and collaborative way of working all over it.
Unlike many other talented architects who tend to be lone wolves, Tim was happy to start with the Cohousing Company’s initial schematic design, that was a consensus design created with community members in a series of workshops. He then incorporated the suggestions of our team members during a period of extensive design development, while contributing his considerable knowledge and skills to making the design sing.
The result for this space is a symmetrical flow through, curvilinear design that opens onto the surrounding sidewalk café, sunken courtyards, interior and exterior balconies and roof decks under hanging gardens and clerestory, an architectural PV and water capture canopy, along with falling water feature at nine different levels, accessible by covered staircases and an elevator, serving as cohousing common space, a gathering place for the surrounding community, a co-op business incubator and co-working space, all within a working café that we are now referring to as Tim’s Place, in his honor.
Check our website for more information.
www.ArizmendiEcovillage.com
braford@sbcglobal.net