flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Holcim awards winners for North America announced

Holcim awards winners for North America announced


By By BD+C Staff | November 1, 2011
More than 6,000 submissions for projects located in 146 countries entered the Holcim Awards which aims to promote sustainable re
This article first appeared in the December 2011 issue of BD+C.

The winners of the 3rd International Holcim Awards competition for sustainable construction projects and visions from North America have been announced. A total of $300,000 was presented to ten diverse and innovative projects from Canada and the U.S. at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The winning projects show how greater levels of sustainability can be reached in building and construction through people-focused designs that include simple adaptation, innovative materials, and clever architecture.

The Swiss-based Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction conducts the competition in parallel in five regions across the world. More than 6,000 submissions for projects located in 146 countries entered the Holcim Awards which aims to promote sustainable responses to contemporary technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues from the building and construction industry.

Gold to an infrastructure network for Inuit communities in Canada
A socio-architectural project to create regional food-gathering nodes and a logistics network in Canada's high arctic territory won the top prize for North America of $100,000. The Arctic Food Network (AFN)secures mobility between the scattered Inuit communities, allows a better distribution of local foods, and serves as a series of bases for the reinforcement of traditional hunting. The infrastructure project by Lateral Office/InfraNet Labbased in Toronto, Ontario, and Princeton, New Jersey, also establishes new foundations for a sustainable, more independent economy.

Mohsen Mostafavi, Head of jury and Dean of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, congratulated the project for creating a cohesive strategy that responds to the landscape, climatic and site conditions. "The project includes purposeful interventions which are integrated without any grand gestures or expensive structures - but instead bridges between the traditions of the Inuit and the expectations of the young generation. The project thereby provides an opportunity to create an improved future, in terms of both economic opportunity and a sustainable way of living," he said.

Silver Award to a zero net energy school building in Los Angeles
The Holcim Awards Silver was presented to a design for a two-level zero energy certified school building to be constructed on multiple campuses throughout Los Angeles. The project led by architects Swift Lee Office of Los Angeles uses "off-the shelf" components and modular panels to create a pre-fabricated system that features a double-layered façade for solar, acoustic, and environmental control and achieves a climate-responsive solution for each site. The project was applauded by the jury for its thoroughly developed and comprehensively presented design, which manages the integration of a coherent technical and structural concept, yet retains spatial and conceptual simplicity.

Energy and water efficient border control station in Maine wins Bronze Award
The Holcim Awards Bronze was awarded to Julie Snow Architectsof Minneapolis for a border control station on the US frontier to Canada at Van Buren, Maine. The approach meets a range of stringent regulations for safety, operation and durability and yet is a highly aesthetic structure marking the national frontier. A zero net energy goal and water saving targets, challenged by the remote location of the site and energy demand for 24-hour operation, are achieved through features such as a ground source heating and cooling, a solar wall to temper outside ventilation air, a ground-coupled heat pump, peaking bio-diesel boilers, LED lights, and lighting control systems to reduce fossil fuel consumption. The jury commended the design for successfully applying state-of-the-art features of sustainability in a government project with its regulatory implications.

Projects in Kansas, Hawaii, Illinois and Missouri receive Acknowledgements
Four projects were presented with an Acknowledgement prize. An energy-efficient university building in Lawrence, Kansas, by Dan Rockhill of Studio 804 which forms part of the University of Kansas architecture, design and planning curriculum and traces the entire process of planning and construction up to realization. An energy-neutral portable classroom designed for use in Hawaii by Anderson Anderson Architecture of San Francisco that reaches manufacturing and transport efficiency, and achieves low operating costs and ease of maintenance. An energy, water and waste efficient military installation in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri by the US Army Corps of Engineersin Washington, DC, which adapts sustainable planning and construction to the military field. And, the Ford Calumet Environmental Center by Studio Gang Architectsof Chicago that reuses materials from the site's previous industrial function - while serving bird watchers and creating a dialog about the region's environmental past, present, and future.

"Next Generation" prizes for post-graduate student visions
The Holcim Awards competition recognizes the importance of engaging tomorrow's professionals on the theme of sustainable construction through the "Next Generation" category which shares the visions and ideas of postgraduate university students. First prize was awarded to Keith Van de Riet, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY for a strategy to strengthen mangrove forests along coastlines to reinforce the natural protection of the coastal communities against the threat of tsunamis. Second prize was awarded to a team of students led by David Getty, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)of Providence, RI for the unique use of secondary building materials in a temporary festival structure. Przemyslaw Latoszek of the University of Toronto received the third prize for a materials science project that studies the building properties of foam concrete and the potential for wider use of the material in architecture and construction.

Independent jury of international experts in architecture and sustainability
Holcim Awards submissions for projects in North America were evaluated by an independent jury hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): Mohsen Mostafavi (Head, USA), Ray Cole (Canada), Keller Easterling (USA), Harry Gugger (Switzerland), Sheila Kennedy (USA), Hans-Rudolf Schalcher (Switzerland), Nader Tehrani (USA), Bernard Terver (USA) and Mark West (Canada) used the five "target issues" for sustainable construction developed by the Holcim Foundation to evaluate submissions. The "target issues" address the triple bottom line of economic, environmental, and social factors together with architectural quality and the potential to apply the innovation in other locations.

Ceremony in Washington, DC as part of a series of Holcim Awards presentations for 2011
The Holcim Awards ceremony for North America in Washington, DC follows the presentation of winners in Milan, Casablanca and Buenos Aires. In November, the series of events will conclude in Singapore. The projects that receive Holcim Awards Gold, Silver and Bronze in each region automatically qualify for the Global Holcim Awards next year. In addition, all prize-winning projects at the regional level - including the Acknowledgement and "Next Generation" winners - will automatically compete for Global Holcim Innovation prizes which are being introduced in 2012, coinciding with the centennial anniversary of the Holcim Group. Winners of the Global Holcim Awards will be announced in April 2012.

The Holcim Awards is an international competition of the Holcim Foundation which seeks innovative, future-oriented and tangible sustainable construction projects and offers prize money of USD 2 million per three-year competition cycle. The competition is run in cooperation with renowned partner universities: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Switzerland; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA, USA; Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA) in Mexico City, Mexico; Ecole Supérieure d'Architecture de Casablanca (EAC), Morocco; Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) in Mumbai, India; Tongji University (TJU) in Shanghai, China; Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil; and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Holcim Foundation is supported by Holcim Ltd and its Group companies in more than 70 countries and is independent of its commercial interests. Holcim is one of the world's leading suppliers of cement and aggregates (crushed stone, gravel and sand) as well as further activities such as ready-mix concrete and asphalt including services.

Holcim is represented in North America by Aggregate Industries US, Holcim Canada, and Holcim (US). BD+C

Related Stories

| Aug 11, 2010

Green consultant guarantees LEED certification or your money back

With cities mandating LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for public, and even private, buildings in growing numbers, an Atlanta-based sustainability consulting firm is hoping to ease anxieties over meeting those goals with the industry’s first Green Guaranteed.

| Aug 11, 2010

Architecture Billings Index bounces back after substantial dip

Exhibiting a welcome rebound following a 5-point dip the month prior, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) was up almost 6 points in July. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the July ABI rating was 43.1, up noticeably from 37.7 the previous month.

| Aug 11, 2010

Rafael Vinoly-designed East Wing opens at Cleveland Museum of Art

Rafael Vinoly Architects has designed the new East Wing at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), Ohio, which opened to the public on June 27, 2009. Its completion marks the opening of the first of three planned wings.

| Aug 11, 2010

National Association of Governors adopts AIA policy of reaching carbon neutrality in buildings by 2030

As part of their comprehensive national Energy Conservation and Improved Energy Efficiency policy, the National Association of Governors (NGA) has adopted the promotion of carbon neutral new and renovated buildings by 2030 as outlined by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

| Aug 11, 2010

Installation work begins on Minnesota's largest green roof

Installation of the 2.5 acre green roof vegetation on the City-owned Target Center begins today. Over the course of two days a 165 ton crane will hoist five truckloads of plant material, which includes 900 rolls of pre-grown vegetated mats of sedum and native plants for installation on top of the arena's main roof.

| Aug 11, 2010

AASHE releases annual review of sustainability in higher education

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has announced the release of AASHE Digest 2008, which documents the continued rapid growth of campus sustainability in the U.S. and Canada. The 356-page report, available as a free download on the AASHE website, includes over 1,350 stories that appeared in the weekly AASHE Bulletin last year.

| Aug 11, 2010

AECOM, Arup, Gensler most active in commercial building design, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report

A ranking of the Top 100 Commercial Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants

| Aug 11, 2010

AIA approves Sika Sarnafil’s continuing education courses offering sustainable design credits

Two continuing education courses offered by Sika Sarnafil have been approved by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and are now certified to fulfill the AIA’s new Sustainable Design continuing education requirements.

| Aug 11, 2010

HNTB, Arup, Walter P Moore among SMPS National Marketing Communications Awards winners

The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) is pleased to announce the 2009 recipients of the 32nd Annual National Marketing Communications Awards (MCA). This annual competition is the longest-standing, most prestigious awards program recognizing excellence in marketing and communications by professional services firms in the design and building industry.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021