- Project Type: Commercial
- Location: Boulder, Colorado
Naropa University, the first Buddhist-inspired university in the United States, is a cherished local institution in Boulder. With a storied past and a vibrant current-day existence, Naropa is part of what makes Boulder special.
Among many projects we have completed for Naropa over the years, we were especially delighted to facilitate a student-led permaculture greenhouse project that designed and built the facility. Caddis principal architect Bryan Bowen taught a course on green building for Naropa for several years, and his students participated in the design/build project in collaboration with a permaculture class led by Marco Lam.
The greenhouse is immediately adjacent to Naropa founder Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s original teahouse. It forms the design of the front-facing portion of the greenhouse, and the greenhouse itself is meant to fit the same design aesthetic. Over the last two decades, the greenhouse has become a joyous gathering space on campus, especially given the spark of creativity from the student body as they learned about permaculture, aquaculture, and food production.
The greenhouse provider was Growing Spaces Greenhouses, manufacturer of a dome greenhouse kit, which the students assembled. We also worked to modify the kit so that it was in compliance with floodplain regulations.
To learn more about Naropa and our ongoing work with the university, see our blog post “Caddis Spotlight: Naropa University.” For other Caddis-designed Naropa projects, see our project pages on the Naropa Pavilion and the Nalanda Campus.
