Every week on Wednesdays we feature a Penguins in Savannah photograph or strip, and we usually offer the images up with some kind of playful caption. This week, The Penguinmaker himself—Derek Larson— sent this photo of one of his funky reclaimed-wood penguins…and it has left us speechless.

So, we thought we’d ask you, the readers, to pitch in!

The best caption wins a new T-shirt that Emergent has designed for the Design for Ability greenhouse–this are hot off the press, limited editions T-shirts! It’s a snazzy design, 100% organic cotton!

So, help us out…and help us figure out what’s going on here!

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Stay tuned every Wednesday afternoon for another edition of…
PENGUINS IN SAVANNAH

We’re thrilled to report that Keith Howington, Vice President of Emergent Structures, has just been published in Retrofit Magazine!

The article, called “Deconstruction Recaptures Materials’ Value while Creating Neighborhood Connections,” features the work of Emergent Structures, as well as his work at Greenline Architects.

Read the full article here. Nice work, Keith!

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Stay tuned every Wednesday afternoon for another edition of…
PENGUINS IN SAVANNAH

A lot of site clearing has been going on over the last few months—small armies of intrepid volunteers preparing the E.34th Street site for the Design for Ability greenhouse. This past Saturday we got some machinery in there to clear some of the heavier items.

Slabs of marble and granite; large metal dumpsters; and even bath tubs, but the majority of time was spent moving BIG piles of LARGE timber. Southern Pine Company has always reclaimed and re-purposed wood from condemned and dilapidated houses in the Southeast, and they have such a wealth of materials, that we’ve played a game of material-shuffle in order to get non-greenhouse wood out of the way, and greenhouse wood into the right place. We were so busy, we didn’t get many pictures of the work, but we want to thank the Southern Pine employees for pitching in, and well as our volunteers!

Employees from IKEA’s Port Wentworth Distribution Center—Emergent’s lead sponsor for the Design for Ability greenhouse—came out to the site on E.34th Street on Sataurday morning, to lend some elbow grease to our efforts. Thank you, again IKEA!

“IKEA is proud to be a part of Emergent Structure’s latest endeavour, the 34th Street Greenhouse Project, and welcomes the opportunity to join this collaborative effort to build a green space for learning in the heart of Savannah’s East Side,” says Dean Peterson, IKEA Sustainability manager, and long-term supporter of Emergent Structures.

“Children and the environment are at the core of IKEA’s social responsibility, and whenever we can work with a project that combines both it is always a win-win for the community in which it resides. ”

The IKEA team continued on the refurbishing of the circa 194s window sash that was reclaimed from the old Strathmore Estates neighborhood, and helped stack some of the yellow pine and red cedar that will be used in the greenhouse construction.

Please stay tuned. This coming month, you’ll see some pretty aggressive developments on the greenhouse!

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Stay tuned every Wednesday afternoon for another edition of…
PENGUINS IN SAVANNAH

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Stay tuned every Wednesday afternoon for another edition of…
PENGUINS IN SAVANNAH

By Scott Boylston | photography by Pimprae Hiranprueck
Philanthropy is a powerful force for good. While we celebrate individuals who donate money, however, we sometimes forget how wealthy we are when it comes to material goods that can be donated. Emergent Structures’ MATERIALANTROPHY program is designed to celebrate people who open their doors to our organization so that we can deconstruct and reclaim materials from their houses, and then steward those materials directly into projects that serve the surrounding community.

Our debut materialanthropists are Chuck and Debra Caldwell, who, upon hearing of the work Emergent Structures was doing in Savannah Gardens way back in 2009, contacted us, and offered the keys to their recently purchased historic home. The house was built in 1866, but during a renovation in the 1970s, many of the architectural features were stripped from the house, and the entire interior—walls and ceilings—was covered with red cedar barn siding. The ground floor was similarly covered in thick pine timber. With intentions to bring the house back to its historic splendor and charm, the Caldwells asked if Emergent Structures was interested in reclaiming the materials that were installed during the previous, misguided effort. We said yes.

And since that day the house has been a training ground for deconstruction and material preparation, even as it has been the source of materials for numerous community projects throughout Savannah. The red dots in the image above represent the locations of projects that have benefited from materials reclaimed from the Jones Street house, with the size of the dots representing the relative quantity of materials delivered to each project.

As the materials end up in more projects and structures around Savannah, the story becomes more compelling. A history of ‘giving’ can be established, and the story of how many lives the Caldwells have touched through their desire to share materials that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill can be told. As the Caldwells so generously show, Materialanthropists make a difference!

Below are examples of the community wealth that has resulted from the Caldwell’s materialanthropy.

STEP ONE: RECLAMATION

The Jones Street house quickly became a training ground for a diverse group of individuals. A team of science and engineering students from Dartmouth, during their Big Green Bus tour of the United States, participated in a volunteer day (left), a local Eagle Scout coordinated a work day for his troop, Troop 16, as a means of earning his Merit Badge (middle), and a junior high school group from Charlotte visited to learn about historic preservation and reclamation (right). These are 3 of the many deconstruction events that we’ve held at the Jones St. house.

STEP TWO: REPURPOSING for COMMUNITY PROJECTS

A pergola made from reclaimed materials is a centerpiece of a larger educational garden project led and funded by Emergent Structures through an IKEA grant. The Shuman Elementary garden project (left) includes an outdoor learning area for students as they work in their organic gardens, as well as a toolshed, and a brick promenade.The Jones Street house supplied the yellow pine for the rafters, and the red cedar for the decking, lattice work and other garden features.

The Design for Ability greenhouse (right) which is on our construction schedule right now, will serve the Savannah High School system and be home to DesignAbility, a non-profit organization dedicated to green-jobs training for special needs populations. The Jones Street house has supplied yellow pine for rafters, and red cedar for siding, furniture and large planters.

STEP THREE: REPURPOSING for SMALLER PROJECTS

Two local businesses purchased Jones Street materials from Emergent Structures, and their projects educate customers and passers-by on a daily basis on the value of repurposed materials. Emergent Structures partnered with SCAD’s Design for Sustainability program for the outdoor eating area at Thrive, Georgia’s first certified Green Restaurant (left), while the Sparetime Grill purchased materials to build its center bar (center).

In the name of great entertainment, creative and a good cause, Emergent Structures created a joint fund-raiser with Humane Society around a design + build competition for pet structures (right). Participants could shop for reclaimed materials at the Jones Street house. Emergent Structures has also arranged for items such as doors to be delivered to the local Habitat for Humanity Restore.

All of these amazing things being brought to life with the help of materials previously destined for the landfill! Thank you Debra and Chuck CALDWELL, our first official MATERIALANTHROPISTS!

And thank you, Matt Henderson and HunterMaclean for your generous IP expertise! And thank you Pimprae Hiranprueck, Adrian Perez for the photography!

Emergent Structures is thrilled to be the recent recipient of this beautiful 97 Ford Explorer!

We owe a huge shout out of thanks and appreciation to Veronikha for donating her vehicle to us—our first vehicle donation ever! Veronikha recently relocated out of state, and had to leave her car behind. She will certainly be missed, but happily her Explorer will remain here in Savannah.

You Rock Veronikha!!