Holcim names North American winners for 2014

Two Canadian designs featured among sustainable construction award recipients
Monday, September 22, 2014
By Rebecca Melnyk

The idea of sustainable construction as more than environmental preservation, but also as social progress and economic growth, was evident in many of the winning projects for the North American regional phase of the 4th International Holcim Awards, celebrated on September 18.

The global triennial competition, organized by the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction based in Zurich, Switzerland, attracted about 6,100 entries across 152 countries on all continents. From the 211 North American entries, 13 awards were handed out during a gala at Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works—itself a Holcim prize winner in 2008.

The jury, consisting of distinguished experts from academics to architects with a range of viewpoints, included Jeffrey Laberge, associate at J.L. Richards & Associates in Sudbury, Ontario. The group adjudicated any projects that were not constructed before the July 2013 opening day of competition, based on an array of criteria related to sustainability: innovation; people and ethics; planet; economic viability; and aesthetic impact.

Such broad focus resulted not only in entries that were sustainable from a holistic perspective, but also in projects that could move beyond fantasy and leverage funds to become reality. In fact, more than half of the projects which won awards since the competition began in 2005 have either been executed or are currently in a construction phase.

Here are a few highlights of this year’s North American winners:

Gold Award: Poreform (Las Vegas)

The winning projects were progressive in how they embraced elements rather than fearing them. Water Pore Partnership designers, Amy Mielke and Caitlin Gucker-Kanter Taylor, won the Gold Award for proposing a porous concrete surface capable of feeding rain runoffs into subterranean basins by weaving the concrete throughout urban cities in the form of parks or sidewalks.The result is the idea of flooding as an asset rather than a liability.

Las Vegas flood prevention model

Flood control basins located downtown will feed a primary basin: The Downtown Tank—a place of public awareness and education. Credit: Water Pore Partnership

The women, particularly unsatisfied with how green infrastructures had not been applied to arid cities like Las Vegas, began looking for inspiration to solve this problem. One unique source came in the form of a reptile—The Thorny Double Lizard, which has the ability to stand on a puddle of water and pull the water into its mouth through capillary action in its skin.

“The idea that you could actually have a network of veins that collect the water started to percolate,” says Gucker-Kanter Taylor. “And then looking at the detention basins and wondering how you can make those more efficient.” Such a design is also applicable to Canadian cities like Toronto with dense environments.

Silver Award: Rebuilding by Design (New York)

Revaluing water as a civic and cultural presence in the city was also central to the silver award winning project—Rebuilding by Design, also known as The BIG U, which takes its name from the shape of Manhattan. When New York and the surrounding area suffered $50- to $60-billion in damages from Hurricane Sandy, project leaders Bjarke Ingels and Kai-Uwe Bergmann, began receiving public and private funding in the U.S. for a project that addresses flood prevention.

Flood protection in this zone protects USD 1.9 billion in potential damages.

Flood protection in this zone protects USD 1.9 billion in potential damages. Credit: Bjarke Ingels Group.

Along with a team of designers, the men are currently working on an eight-mile-long ribbon of flood protection that wraps around the island in the form of raised berms. The berms are tailored to each neighbourhood. From a theatre, kiosk or ramp, to an art installation, the infrastructure will have the ability to morph to every location of the city.

“The BIG U in essence is creating resilient infrastructure,” says Bergmann. “But thinking about the people and about the activities those people can engage in, you’ll be able to engage with the protection and use it as a kind of urban furniture. Then when you need it, it will protect you.”

The team hopes to begin construction in 2017 on the first stretch of the BIG U on the Lower East Side.

Bronze Award: Hy-Fi (New York)

structure made from a new type of brick

Hy-Fi is a compostable structure that offers a new vision for society’s approach to physical objects and the built environment. Credit: The Living

Also in New York, Bronze winner David Benjamin from The Living architecture lab created Hy-Fi, a cluster of circular towers built from a new type of brick—organically grown and compostable mycelium.

The structure, developed through biotechnology, engineering and computation, was built to produce no waste, zero energy or carbon emissions. Deconstructed this past summer, the bricks are now being composted for the use of growing crops.

 

Acknowledgment Award: Heritage Reframed (Toronto)

Two Canadian projects also received a much coveted Holcim award. Heritage Reframed,authored by Nader Tehrani and Katherine Faulkner, from NADAAA out of Boston, MA., won an Acknowledgement Award for proposing a new home for the John H. Daniels, Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design, part of the University of Toronto.

Heritage Reframed earns Acknowledgment Award

Baudoin Nizet, CEO of Holcim Canada; prize winners Katherine Faulkner and Nader Tehrani; Richard Sommer, Dean of John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design, University of Toronto; and jury member Lola Sheppard, partner at Lateral Office in Toronto.

The project was praised for its approach to renovating a heritage building, respecting its existing structure and introducing new spatial qualities.

“The project highlights the challenges of bringing a truly sustainable project to fruition, with all of the financial challenges and the rules and regulations that require recognition and response in the process,” says Faulkner.

Combining preservation with new elements like extensions into landscape areas, open space with abundant natural light with views among classrooms will help maximize the building’s potential uses and meet the needs of a growing student population.

 

 

 

The Next Generation Award 4th Place: Timber-Link (Cape Dorset, Nunavut)

Enrique Norten, member of the board Holcim Foundation; Jonathan Enns, Enns Design and Solid Operations; jury memebr Jeffrey Laberge.

Enrique Norten, member of the board Holcim Foundation; Jonathan Enns, Enns Design and Solid Operations; jury memebr Jeffrey Laberge.

The Next Generation Award, normally conferred to three recipients, was handed out to six, due to the outstanding quality of the projects and an increase in entries this year.

Timber-Link building system

While Cape Dorset has a vibrant arts scene, its building culture suffers a similar fate to other remote communities where new construction is low quality, expensive and architectural expression is “off the shelf.” Credit: Jonathan Enns

Johnathan Enns, a Toronto-based designer, was one of those awarded.

Within this category, visionary concepts are encouraged, knowing they may never be built, on the premise that such ideas contribute to the debate on the future of architecture.

Enns created a residential system made from cross-laminated timber to form a flexible system of cells at Cape Dorset in Nunavut, Canada.

Such structures reduce the need for skilled labour on site as they are pre-fabricated with insulation, among other features.

The design could work quite well, especially in situations that require quick assembly, like disaster relief and in remote areas of Northern Canada.

The gold, silver and bronze winners from each continent are automatic contenders for the Holcim Global Awards in 2015.

Visit the Holcim Foundation for a complete list of North American award recipients.

 

 

Rebecca Melnyk is online editor of Building Strategies & Sustainability and Canadian Property Management.

 

 

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