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Brady Heights is preparing to get a one-of-kind addition to its neighborhood.

Resident Nathan Pickard broke ground Monday on The Joinery, a two-story, brick house that is the first in Oklahoma to seek the Living Building Challenge certification from the International Living Future Institute.

The roughly $300,000 project will take up 3,180 square feet and be located at 640 N. Denver Ave., just north of Pickard’s home.

“They call it a Living Building basically because the fact that it’s here is better for the environment than if we haven’t built it,” he said. “It’s supposed to increase the beauty of the area. It’s self-sufficient.

“All the power is from solar. It treats its own waste, collects its own water and treats it. It’s quite a challenge.”

The property Pickard purchased for the project sits on land that used to house a Tastee Freez built in the 1970s. The exterior of The Joinery is expected to be up in a couple of months, he said.

“The interior design is very much like a teaching kitchen, big event space and housing,” Pickard said. “It’s a different twist on a single-family residence.