Amberley Green Site - Hamilton County, Ohio

Amberley Green SiteAmberley Village, Ohio

Design Goals• To create a new source of revenue for the Village whilepreserving as much of the original environment aspossible• To minimize invasive development by building aroundthe natural lay of the land• To maximize the use of sustainable development byachieving LEED certification on all structures• use of solar and other renewable energy, waterconservation, etc.• Motivates residents to move away from an automobiledependent lifestyle

Types of Development• Connectivity• Parks and Recreation• Civic Space• Commercial• Residential• Agriculture• Institutional• Sustainability

Connectivity• East entrance at intersection at Fairhaven• North entrance off Galbraith• East entrance leads to north entrance, which leads toresidential loop in southwest corner of site• Paved walking path that connects to Fernwood on southend of site, doubles as emergency access route• Encourages pedestrian and bike traffic, but has a lot forautomobiles

Parks and Recreation• Walking and bike paths• Playground• Parcourse fitness trail• Tree Arboretum• Sculpture park• Dog park• Benches for nature viewing

Civic Space• Renovated existing building• Outdoor Amphitheatre• Town square• Education programs in building• Educational signage• Community recycling and composting• Pavilion by large pond• REVENUE: amphitheatre, classrooms, and pavilionrental; aluminum recycling

Commerical• Organic restaurant• uses local foods grown on site• composting for gardening• bed and breakfast on second floor• Retail space at Galbraith and Ridge• surrounded by walkable town square• Wedding ceremonies in pavilion• overlook of pond creates ambient atmosphere• REVENUE: property, income and sales taxes; leasingoption

Residential• Single family• encourages new young families to move in• Lifestyle housing• emphasis on aging in place concierge services• aids Amberley’s empty nesters looking to downsize• REVENUE: property and income taxes; new residentsspending money in local economy

Residential• Variety of housing creates age diversity• Accessible to cars via east and north entrance• Emergency access route nearby for fires, etc.• Walkable environment encourages pedestrian and biketravel around community• Use of solar panels as renewable energy• Rainwater collection systems for community gardens• Possibility for geothermal energy?

Agriculture• Community gardens• west lots of site for Amberley Green residents• northeast lots for Amberley Village residents• additional lots to provide food for organic restaurant• Promotes community involvement and education• Fruit orchards• northwest border of Galbraith to serve as buffer• Aquaponics• possibility of raising organic tilapia• for restaurant and/or farmers market

Agriculture• Farmers market• surplus can be sold to community• Composting and Vermiculture• restaurant can implement to promote a “closed cycle”• can use fish waste for manure• May require outside specialist to maintain projects• could be linked to institutional research

Institutional• Reuse of existing clubhouse building• Possibility for research group involvement on site• University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati State, etc.• Creation of classrooms for educational and recreationuses• Marvelous viewshed of entire site• REVENUE: rental or leasing option

Sustainability• LEED certification for clubhouse, commercial buildings, andhouses• Educational programs to raise awareness about environmentalissues, recycling, composting, etc.• Motivates residents to move away from an automobiledependent lifestyle• Gardens and composting creates full cycle of sustainability• Porous pavement to reduce storm water runoff• Green roofs, renewable energy, and water conservation• Cutting edge technology will create tax rebates and ainnovative reputation for community

Challenges• Community acceptance• Finding the right fit for the site/community• residents, restaurants, commercial space, etc.• Funding and sponsors• Finding the experts• gardens, institutional• LEED certification

It’s possible!• Although there are many challenges presented with ourhigh expectations, Amberley Village can achieve successif this is what they want for their community!