The Holcim Foundation has announced the North American winners of its 2014 awards program, which seeks to reward participants for evolutions in sustainable construction. This year’s winners will share more than $300,000 in prize money for developing sophisticated, multi-disciplinary responses to the challenges facing the 21st century building industry.
Gold
Poreform, Las Vegas, NV
Amy Mielke and Caitlin Taylor of Water Pore Partnership won the top prize with a water absorptive surface and subterranean basin that captures stormwater, adding more than 75,000 megaliters to Sin City’s water supply.
Silver
Rebuilding by Design, New York City
A consortium led by Bjarke Ingels Group won Silver with a project that uses a raised berm and sequence of public spaces to address New York City’s vulnerability to coastal flooding.
Bronze
Hy-Fi, New York City
David Benjamin of The Living architecture lab won Bronze for a cluster of circular towers built of biologically grown bricks, designed for the MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program.
Acknowledgment Prize
The Crysanthemum Building, Boston, MA
Kennedy & Violich Architecture put forth an affordable model for residential development with a timber construction and metal mesh screens.
Acknowledgment Prize
Heritage Reframed, Toronto, ON
NADAA restores 19th century architecture with state-of-the-art construction materials and energy systems.
Acknowledgment Prize
Divining LA, Los Angeles, CA
A Woodbury University team developed a digital tool for urban design in water stressed environments.
Acknowledgment Prize
In-Closure, Seattle, WA
ABF-lab designed a master plan that reintroduces forest into the heart of the Emerald City.
Next Generation 1st Prize
Trash for Use, New York City
Debbie Chen proposed an inner-city machine for turning trash into treasure.
Next Generation 2nd Prize
Machine Landscape, Greene County, PA
Atelier Dreiseitl proposed using abandoned coal mines for hydro-pump electricity storage.
Next Generation 3rd Prize
Pleura Pod, Cambridge, MA
MIT students proposed a wall system filled with algae that transforms carbon dioxide into oxygen.
Next Generation 4th Prize
Timber-Link, Cape Dorset, NU
Enns Design and solidoperations used cross-laminated timber to form a flexible system of inhabitable cells.
Next Generation 5th Prize
Evolutionary Infrastructure, San Francisco, CA
This academic team explored the potential of adaptively reusing abandoned infrastructure.
Next Generation 6th Prize
Latex Formwork, Cambrige, MA
This MIT research project investigates a new construction method for thin concrete panels.