Collaborative Project Between Phipps and CMU Architecture Students Grows Plants Outdoors in Winter

Michael Bechtel, edibles coordinator at Phipps, opens a cold frame to see what has survived. The cold frames on the Rooftop Edible Garden at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens were designed, constructed and installed by architecture students from Carnegie Mellon University. It’s part of a joint project between the school and conservatory. Photos by Doug Oster

Michael Bechtel (left), edibles coordinator at Phipps and Joshua Bard, assistant professor at CMU’s School of Architecture worked together with students from CMU to create these unique cold frames.

These cold frames in the Rooftop Edible Garden at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens were designed, constructed and installed by architecture students from Carnegie Mellon University. It’s part of a joint project between the school and conservatory.

It’s sunny but barely 10 degrees as Michael Bechtel gently lifts up a uniquely shaped cold frame. A peek inside reveals surprisingly green herbs that survived the brutal early-winter cold spell in their translucent winter home.

The edibles coordinator at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is checking out what’s remained under cover on the Rooftop Edible Garden he maintains. Architecture students from Carnegie Mellon University created the hoop houses as part of a collaborative project with Phipps. Teams of students designed each of the unique structures, and they have become a topic of conversation with visitors to the garden since they were installed in October.

Read the full article on the Everybody Gardens website.