The Old Oak Dojo at 14 Chestnut Place in Jamaica Plain is a place where neighbors gather to rediscover how to create healthy and resilient communities. This small studio, which shares a half-acre residential lot with a community home, is an experiment in dissolving the boundary between public and private. Its purpose is to provide a space for community to meet, learn, eat, celebrate, and play—and thereby restore our wholeness as citizens. Retreat and event space is made available as a gift to grassroots groups and nonprofits with a core purpose of advancing racial justice and equality. The Old Oak Dojo is currently at capacity and accepting reservations only from groups that have used it before.

LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE

Urban Agriculture

Food is a catalyst for bridging difference and bringing people together. Given our soil’s high lead content, we constructed four raised beds to grow crops and feed our community.

Materials

Our materials are salvaged, re-purposed or regionally sourced. The decking is from the roof of a pool in Watertown, the floors from a paper mill in Lawrence, the frame from a movie set on the North Shore.

Radiant Heat

We installed radiant heat beneath the wood floor to help maintain constant room temperature. This electric source of heat is a low-energy approach to warming objects rather than air.