Hut-Cut Project
A local community improvement and mining reclamation project.
After a short stay in a house with mold upon our arrival to Spearfish, we moved into a Quonset hut near downtown. It's old, drafty, leaky, and has curved outer walls making shelving, window coverings, and hanging pictures difficult at times. These walls, for the last thirteen years, housed our family. You can't walk into and out of a place for thirteen years and not find some time to think about the best possible uses. With a live-in architect, our conversations about what could be done here architecturally take on a bit more weight. In this article, we try to sum-up our conversations about a visionary project that could forever bolster the economy of the Black Hills and do something wonderful for the people who live here. Doing a huge project, however, requires baby steps. First, we must inspire the current and future decision makers at the two sites - the Quonset hut (aka The Hut) and the open-cut mine (The Cut) left in the mountain in Lead, South Dakota.
Some of the important similarities between The Hut and The Cut are: they are both highly visible, contain or are leaking toxic compounds, and could benefit from renovation.
Summarily stated, Hut-Cut is a project to inspire an innovative multi-billion dollar mining reclamation project in Lead, South Dakota. With such a huge project and lofty goals, it helps to have a scale model to convey the idea and even test some key aspects of the design. In essence, we propose utilizing the hut as a scale model for what could be done at the cut. We propose incorporating locally grown food, education, business, and other uses. Horticulture, aquaculture, and water collection will be utilized to grow healthy food for the local area. Education programs will include the environment, horticulture, gardening, mining, geology, nutrition, soil studies, composting, vermiculture, and engineering. Commerce and businesses relating to these topics will be naturally incorporated into the project. The Hut would be a perfect headquarters for the project, while The Cut in Lead would be a natural expansion site for Sanford Labs to continue to coordinate and conduct a growing body of research.
Around the world many closed and abandon mines have been rehabilitated, reclaimed, and reused for new purposes. Some sites have become museums, hotels, resorts, amusement parks, golf courses and more. Eden Project is an organization that has multiple world-wide projects where they have rehabilitated environmentally damaged sites. They have similar programs to the Hut-Cut proposal that includes botanical biospheres and education outreach to the community.
This site is obviously not the run of the mill flat or rolling site for a large project. It's a fitting challenge for the world class architecture, engineering, and excavating talent already in our area. The sloped sides of the cut are steep and it is impossible to fill and level the site drastically. Designing the project to follow the slopes with a balanced "cut and fill" method is the best practice environmentally, constructionally, and financially. Stepping the buildings vertically up the slope as well as horizontally will maximize the sunlight into the buildings aiding in lighting and heating the spaces. Architecturally the buildings that are lower in the cut will appear more solid and heavy while they get lighter and more open as they move up the hillside. These stepped buildings will have easy access to rooftops where gardening and more horticulture can be integrated. Rooftop gardens are a beneficial addition for the building's environmental control systems and for human psychology.
The two respective sites can be strategically aligned through the sites' intended and planned uses: horticulture, aquaculture, education, business, housing, and garden.
Multiple or one large biosphere will be a major feature of the project on the north side where the topography is more level. Biospheres are used for better control of and create various environmental conditions for studying and growing plants and crops. These plants and crops can be used for research, education, and local food. The biospheres will not only be used for research and commerce, but for educational programs and visitor tours.
There will also be an educational campus placed on the east slope. On the lower half where the slope is not quite as steep it will allow for wider buildings to accommodate workshops, labs and large classrooms. More narrow and taller structures will be built on the upper slope which will house lecture halls, small classrooms, study rooms and offices. Rooftops and courtyards will provide open spaces for gatherings and relaxing between classes.
On the west slope of The Cut will be the buildings for businesses and housing. They will include individual office spaces for different businesses, shared conference rooms, lounges, eating areas, business services, and other public spaces. The housing will have individual apartments for long term residents and hotel or dorm styled units for students or short term residents. Common areas like indoor and outdoor lounges, eating areas, and a kitchen will be available for the residents. These business and residential spaces are smaller and the buildings will reflect that with smaller building sections stepped horizontally and vertically on the slope. These smaller modules will maximize sunlight each space will receive and provide them rooftop patios.
Natural gardens, paths and a lake will be another major aspect of the project. The south slope will be reclaimed for a natural garden area with indigenous vegetation, paths, and benches. In the bottom of The Cut a lake will be created. This will aid with drainage, water retention, water recycling and can be used for aquaculture and the horticulture activities being conducted in the biosphere(s). It can also be stocked with appropriate vegetation and aquatic life, and provides an extra barrier protecting the water resources of our region.
Over a majority of the build site will be a lightweight open roof structure. This will cover and protect the buildings from rain and snow accumulation, but also be transparent or translucent to let the sunlight through. Solar panels can be incorporated into the roof to supplement the projects energy consumption. The roof structure will also act as a water collection device to be used for the horticulture in the biospheres and on the rooftops, replenishing the lake, as well as supply for the buildings. Spanning possibly more than 1600 feet it would be larger than the current largest existing dome on Earth which spans less than 1200 feet.
The Lead open cut is a very large site and any project there would need to be done in phases. The Hut is not such a large project, making it logical to build-out as a scale model first to inspire land owners, investors, natives, and scientists interested in this project. The first phase would be studying and preparing and building out The Hut.
The Hut aspect of the Hut-Cut project will be a place to test on a small scale the different aspects and strategies incorporated into the larger project in The Cut. It would also be used as a local outreach location and headquarters for the whole project. Analogous to The Cut, this location will comprise education space, office space, indoor horticultural areas, a lab/workroom, outdoor garden, aquaculture, water collection, and solar panels. Replacing 50 to 70 percent of the exterior shell with transparent/translucent panels and installing a window wall on the upper south wall will create a greenhouse space for horticulture on the whole upstairs level, akin to the biosphere. These panels, like the large lightweight roof structure over The Open Cut, can integrate tempered solar panels and water collection. Education programs will use the classroom downstairs to teach the community in the same areas of interest embedded in The Cut project: environment, horticulture, gardening, mining, geology, nutrition, soil studies, composting and vermiculture. The office space would mainly be used for the project and employees and volunteers at The Hut. Outside, the west side is where a small scale aquaculture system would be set up along with a garden in view of the walking and driving public.
This visionary project could benefit the Black Hills and the people living here by bringing more local food, commerce, scientists, educators, students, and tourists to the area. We hope this has inspired you to think about what could be done for your community. Please share this article and project to inspire the locals and decision makers to help move this innovative multi-billion dollar mining reclamation project forward.
The Hut-Cut project conceptualized by John Dale, design and drawings rendered by Jessica Dale of Old School Studio. If you would like to know more or have any questions please contact us at info at plainstribune dot com. You may recognize this project from the book, This is Not a School, written and edited by the Dale Family as a product of their family education research.