After nearly 30 years, Heartwood Institute, nestled in the peaceful mountains of
Northern California, continues to be the only residential school of its kind combining community living with holistic health education. Set on 200 acres in the mountains of
California’s
North
Coast, the institute’s new owners have embarked on a long-term journey to transform the facilities in order to enhance the school’s ability to teach the resident students and serve the larger community.
In addition to master planning the project, Todd Jersey Architecture designed a full suite of new buildings including: sleeping dormitories, spa building, therapy pool facility, maintenance facilities, classrooms, movement center, and a facility for intensives and conferences including housing and meeting spaces.
Green design initiatives support the direction of Heartwood towards self-sustainability including the use of photovoltaics for the generation of power and permaculture site planning (with Exos Design Inc.) for the production of food. Green features include: airentrain concrete block, high-performance wall system, straw bale, certified wood, radiant heating, passive solar, and high content recycled materials.
