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- Regional Holcim Awards 2011 North America winners announced!
The 2011 Regional Holcim Awards for North America were recently announced at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.! The Holcim Awards recognize excellence in sustainable design for buildings, infrastructure, renewable energy and master plans.
This year’s gold prize went to Lateral Office/ InfraNet Lab, based in Toronto, Canada and Princeton, New Jersey, with its plans for a regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network for Iqaluit, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The project consists of fostering mobility between the different Inuit communities for an improved distribution of local foods and encourage local hunting by constructing a series of small, temporary enclosures along existing snowmobile trails. These buildings will serve as shelters, data transmission centers, ecological management stations, and cultural centers.
The zero net energy school building for Los Angeles, California in the United States by the Swift Lee Office was awarded the Silver Award. This public school prototype relies on prefabrication and renewable energy for a flexible, economical design that meets LEED Platinum standards. The architects have carefully examined each phase in the building’s lifecycle to ensure maximum sustainability.
Bronze went to the energy and water efficient border control station for Van Buren, Maine by Julie Snow Architects, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The project aims for net zero energy and water conservation through the use of state-of-the-art sustainable technologies, including 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.
Four acknowledgement prizes were also awarded for the following projects: an energy efficient university building in Lawrence, Kansas, USA; an energy neutral portable classroom in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; an energy, water and waste efficient military installation in Fort Leonard Wood, Mississippi, USA; and an environmental center and bird-watching facility using recycled materials in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
"Next Generation" prizes for excellence in sustainable student design went to a reinforced mangrove protective infrastructure project in Miami, Florida, USA; a temporary festival structure using recyclable building components in Providence, Rhode Island, USA; and a project for foam concrete utilization research in Toronto, Ontario in Canada, which earned first, second and third prize respectively.
