The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Housing Knowledge Community, in conjunction with the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), recognized four recipients of the 2016 AIA/HUD Secretary Awards.
The categories of the program include (1) Excellence in Affordable Housing Design (2) Creating Community Connection Award (3) Community-Informed Design Award and (4) Housing Accessibility - Alan J. Rothman Award. These awards demonstrate that design matters, and the recipient projects offer examples of important developments in the housing industry.
“Each of these developments are innovative housing opportunities offering seniors and families alike a place to thrive,” said HUD Secretary Julián Castro. “These winners prove that affordable and accessible housing can become part of the fabric of any neighborhood and reinforce the principles of inclusiveness and opportunity.”
(Click on the images to enlarge and the project names for more information)
Category One
Excellence in Affordable Housing- Recognizing architecture that demonstrates overall excellence in terms of design in response to both the needs and constraints of affordable housing.
Photo: Bruce Damonte
Lakeside Senior Apartments | Oakland, Calif. | David Baker Architects
The project is home to 91 very-low-income and special-needs homeless seniors, many of whom have been displaced with the Bay Area’s rapidly rising housing costs. The building has extensive on-site services and is designed to support independent living, with strong transit connections to downtown Oakland and San Francisco and access to retail offerings, including a pharmacy and grocery. The high-density housing—138 units per acre—provides indoor and outdoor community spaces at both the ground floor and upper levels. The central west-facing main courtyard opens toward the street and is warmed by afternoon sun. A rooftop suite of community spaces overlooks the lake. Designed with a complementary series of sustainable strategies, the building is pending LEED for Homes Mid-Rise Platinum Certification.
Category Two
Creating Community Connection Award - Recognizing projects that incorporate housing within other community amenities for the purpose of either revitalization or planned growth.
Photo: Barry Rustin
Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative (DA+HC) | Chicago | Landon Bone Baker Architects
As a former Chicago Housing Authority project sitting vacant since 2007, the Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative (DA+HC) stands as the cornerstone of the recently revitalized Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood.Private, public, and non-profit sectors are transforming the neighborhood through the reactivation of abandoned buildings and cultural foundations in the under-invested neighborhood. The DA+HC features a rehabilitated block of 32 of the original 36 two- and three-bedroom townhouse units that now provide mixed-income housing. Four of the center units were removed to create the focus of the development—a 2,200-sf Arts Center with a dance studio, work and tech shops, and public meeting space.
Category Three
Community-Informed Design Award - Recognizing design that supports physical communities as they rebuild social structures and relationships that may have been weakened by outmigration, disinvestment, and the isolation of inner-city areas.
Photo: buildingcommunityWORKSHOP
Disaster Recovery Round 2 (DR2) | Houston | buildingcommunityWORKSHOP
Disaster Recovery Round 2 (DR2) launched five years after Hurricane Ike devastated the Texas Gulf Coast. The DR2 program sought to fill the remaining gap in home repair and replacement while offering homeowners choice in their disaster recovery experience. DR2 was designed to bring together the expertise of local design architects and insight from residents directly affected by the storm to build single-family, high-quality, cost-effective, sustainable designs. Through a series of community lead charrettes, the design team gathered contextual information for every affected neighborhood, including demographic research and documentation of neighborhood form and character. This approach created a relationship with the city, residents, and local designers, ensuring that the process both supported local professionals and benefited residents. Over 206 homeowners have met with the design team to select the housing options that best meet their needs.
Category Four
Housing Accessibility | Alan J. Rothman Award - Recognizing exemplary projects that demonstrate excellence in improving housing accessibility for people with disabilities.
Photo: Dale Lang
Port Townsend Residence | Port Townsend, Wash. | FabCab
This house was designed serve both owners – he uses a power wheelchair whereas she does not. Careful site planning created a continuous accessible route from the street through the home to the terrace and onto the common garden space. The attached carport accommodates the wheelchair-accessible van with its ramp, creating a covered route from the front entrance into the van. An open plan ensures easy circulation within a modest 1,325 sf footprint. The telescoping pocket doors to the bedrooms also allow flexibility for use and connection to living spaces. The entry door and sidelight feature vertical glazing to allow viewing from any height. The kitchen and bathrooms are designed to facilitate use from both standing and seated positions. This project demonstrates that universal design and accessibility features are compatible with a warm and modern aesthetic.
Related Stories
| Nov 3, 2014
Novel 'self-climbing' elevator operates during construction of high-rise buildings
The JumpLift system from KONE uses a mobile machine room that moves upward as the construction progresses, speeding construction of tall towers.
| Nov 3, 2014
Cairo's ultra-green mixed-use development will be topped with flowing solar canopy
The solar canopy will shade green rooftop terraces and sky villas atop the nine-story structure.
| Oct 31, 2014
Dubai plans world’s next tallest towers
Emaar Properties has unveiled plans for a new project containing two towers that will top the charts in height, making them the world’s tallest towers once completed.
| Oct 29, 2014
Better guidance for appraising green buildings is steadily emerging
The Appraisal Foundation is striving to improve appraisers’ understanding of green valuation.
| Oct 27, 2014
Studio Gang Architects designs residential tower with exoskeleton-like exterior for Miami
Jeanne Gang's design reinvents the Florida room with shaded, asymmetrical balconies.
| Oct 21, 2014
Passive House concept gains momentum in apartment design
Passive House, an ultra-efficient building standard that originated in Germany, has been used for single-family homes since its inception in 1990. Only recently has the concept made its way into the U.S. commercial buildings market.
| Oct 21, 2014
Perkins Eastman white paper explores state of the senior living industry in the Carolinas
Among the experts interviewed for the white paper, there was a general consensus that the model for continuing-care retirement communities is changing, driven by both the changing consumers and more prevalent global interest on the effects of aging.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 15, 2014
Final touches make 432 Park Avenue tower second tallest in New York City
Concrete has been poured for the final floors of the residential high-rise at 432 Park Avenue in New York City, making it the city’s second-tallest building and the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere.
