A former Synagogue, built in 1923 and an attached, mid-century modern Hebrew school located in the Garfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh will be redeveloped as affordable housing. The retrofit of the school building will include 45 affordable housing units and has been pre-certified By PHIUS under the PHIUS+ 2018 standard.

The Rotunda will be retrofit as phase two of the project. It will also meet Passive House standards and will be designed as a flexible office and community gathering space, including sustainable living education programming, creative arts and worship services. Solar arrays and battery storage will support a resiliency hub for residents of the rental apartments and members of the community in the event of grid failure due to extreme weather, or other causes.

The site surrounding the Rotunda and residences will be redeveloped as a regenerative Urban Farm to provide fresh produce as well as educational opportunities to its residents and surrounding neighbors.

The farm is proposed to include two small passive solar greenhouses, hügelkultur beds, accessible raised beds, cold frames, outdoor gathering space, tool storage, and a food forest. Permaculture principals will be employed to create a functional and sustainable growing space to benefit residents, local ecosystems, and the climate.