"Build Ivywild" Book Review

In case my previous entry did not emphasize just how much is going on at the newly renovated Ivywild School these days, here is a review of authors James Fennell and Lola Scobey's new book titled Build Ivywild. Thank you to Laura Ettinger of Moxie Girl PR for the review!

And make sure to check out Ivywild's Grand Opening celebration this weekend!

Build Ivywild

Can mingling different businesses bring greater prosperity? Can neighborhood buildings and spaces produce happiness? Can the sun and wind actually improve a person’s well-being? Build Ivywild answers these and similar questions in words and sketches that are designed for everyone – from entrepreneurs and small business owners to government officials to students to neighborhood advocates.

In this real-life story of awakening an old school, Build Ivywild offers a blueprint for environmental, business, and cultural sustainability. It provides solutions for maintaining social and cultural well-being while achieving economic prosperity and creating healthy environments. 

“Build Ivywild provides an in-depth chronology of the design, approval, and funding process for repurposing the old Ivywild School, but it accomplishes much more. It sets a new standard for organizing businesses, designing buildings, and creating community. It champions a new culture. . . Ivywild changes everything!”

—Jamie LaRue, Director

    Douglas County Libraries, Colorado

Written by James Fennell and Lola Scobey, Build Ivywild is for entrepreneurs, design students, neighborhood advocates – anyone who is seeking highly efficient, profitable, and compassionate ways of conducting business, building things, and living one’s life. The principal theme of this book urges us to move beyond simply identifying problems and offering criticism: It delineates practical, achievable solutions for being healthy, wealthy, and wise.

In the journey to repurpose a brick-and-mortar school into a model neighborhood redevelopment, the anchor tenant just so happens to be a successful brewery (designed to use leftover rinse water and spent grain to irrigate and fertilize a greenhouse)! Using a three-part design approach that balances environmental, functional, and cultural concerns, Build Ivywild offers a blueprint for true sustainability. It proposes to revitalize and inspire our communities – and our nation – one neighborhood at a time.