Winner's of Holcim Award Gold 2008: Solar 2 Green Energy, Arts and Education Center, New York, USA

Holcim Awards winners for North America announced

The winners of the second North American Holcim Awards competition for sustainable construction projects and visions were announced at a ceremony in Montreal. Nine projects from Canada and the United States showcasing the latest approaches to address critical themes including housing affordability, employment, renewable energy, and water efficiency shared in USD 270,000 in prize money.

New York City’s first carbon-neutral building, the Solar 2 Green Energy, Arts and Education Center received the Holcim Awards Gold 2008 trophy for “bringing the eco-building vision into reality”. The project led by Christopher J Collins will be constructed on a brownfield waterfront site in Manhattan and will motivate visitors to consider how they can personally contribute to today’s energy and climate challenges.

The Silver award for North America went to a self-contained day labor station concept for San Francisco designed by Liz Obgu for the non-profit organization, “Public Architecture”. The flexible structures provide a place for day laborers to await work and offer shelter, benches, washrooms and food preparation facilities. Green and recycled materials are used to minimize the environmental footprint and economic costs.

A freshwater lake restoration and research facility at Sudbury, Ontario received the Bronze award. The project overseen by Laurentian University scientist John Gunn will investigate the restoration of the city’s ecosystem with an emphasis on guaranteeing drinking water quality for future generations.

Three projects received Acknowledgement prizes: Evergreen Brick Works heritage site revitalization, Toronto, was applauded for its coordinated approach to urban revitalization. Minimal-impact North Vancouver Outdoor School, was noted for its comprehensive planning and minimal ecological impact. Strategy for environmentally-friendly integration of beehives, Detroit received praise for transforming open urban spaces into green buffer zones between industrial and residential precincts.

For the first time, the Holcim Awards competition included a category for the visions of young architects and designers – “Next Generation” prizes. First prize was awarded to a microstructure research for building skins project by researches from MIT in Cambridge, Mass. and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Second prize for a residential density for urban spaces proposal for Toronto; and Third prize to a responsive urban downtown activity center concept for Boston.

Almost 5000 projects from 90 countries were entered in the second Holcim Awards competition. The North American submissions were evaluated by an independent jury headed by MIT School of Architecture and Planning Dean, Adèle Naudé Santos. The results for Europe were celebrated in Madrid, and the winners for Latin America (Mexico City), Africa Middle East (Marrakech) and Asia Pacific (New Delhi) will be announced in the forthcoming weeks. Gold, silver, and bronze winners from each region automatically qualify for the global Holcim Awards competition in 2009.

The Holcim Awards is an international competition of the Swiss-based Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, run in cooperation with renowned partner universities on all continents and providing prize money of USD 2 million per three-year competition cycle.