Seven Projects Honored with Inaugural Active Design Award

To promote the role that architecture and design plays in addressing ongoing obesity and chronic disease issues around the world, the Center for Active Design launched their first ever design excellence awards. Seven projects have been selected to recieve the inaugural prize for their ability to encourage physical activity and active use of space. Check out each of the award winning designs, after the break…

Leasdership in Active Design, Excellence Award: Arbour House; Bronx, New York / Blue Sea Development Company 

Blue Sea Development Company have been instrumental in establishing the Active Design: Affordable Design for Affordale Housing publication, distributed by the Center for Active Design. Their low-income housing project, Arbour House, in the South Bronx, New York uses these strategies and addresses the lack of healthy food available to residents. By integrating a 10,000 square foot hydroponic rooftop farm into the project, residents are able to purchase shares of healthy food produced by the farm.

Excellence Award: Buckingham County Elementary School; Dillwyn, Virginia / VMDO Architects

Focusing on improving local access to fresh food, parks and paths to play, VMDO Architects’ Buckingham County Elementary School in Dillwyn, Virginia sought to develop spaces that will shape the way today’s youth thinks about physical activity. A teaching kitchen and food lab lounge are interactive environments that educate children whilst the grab-n-go farm adjacent to play areas allows kids to snack straight from the plant.

Excellence Award: Shepardic Community Center; Brooklyn, New York / BKSK Architects

The renovation and expansion of the Shepardic Community Center in Brooklyn, New York aimed to connect the multi-generational users of the 30-year-old facility. The project includes a gym, fitness center, racquetball courts and an Olympic sized swimming pool, all of which are connected through natural light filled voids, an oversized central stairwell, and visible opportunities to rest and socialize. One of the more dramatic elements of the project includes a glass wall that displays 400 images of family members who have immigrated to the US from Syria and the Middle East.

Excellence Award: Blue Hole Regional Park; Wimberley, Texas / Design Workshop Inc.

A design team led by Design Workshop Inc. has balanced Wimberley’s residents desire to restore the damaged eco-system of Blue Hole whilst simultaneously developing an active space for visitors to use. The park promotes physical activity through its soccer fields, basketball courts, playgrounds, camping sites, swimming areas and almost five miles of recreational trails. The design preserves over 70% of the areas tree coverage, providing shade and minimizing environemtal degradation. The regional park in the largest SITES certified project in the US.

Excellence Award: Greenbridge Master Plan; King County, Washington / GGLO

GGLO’s revitalisation of an existing housing project in King County has transformed the low-income neighbourhood into a vibrant mixed-use community. Focussing on connectivity, open space diversity, adjacent uses and placemaking, pedestrian routes are designed to encourage residents of all abilities to walk rather than drive. Commissioned artworks are scattered throughout the project, activating recreational and open spaces and provoding nodes for communtiy gatherings.

Honourable Mention: Gammel Hellerup High School Gymnasium + Mulitpurpose Hall; Hellerup, Denmark / BIG

Addressing Gammel Hellerup High School’s need for a new dedicated physical activity and social space whislt maintaining sight lines and connectivity throughout the site, BIG’s Gymnasium and Multipurpose Hall sits sixteen feet below ground. The innovation of the project is the molehill peak roof that acts as an accessible, dynamic space for informal school gatherings and events. Additonally, the removal of a preexisting barrier between the school and the neighbouring community has enabled the school to host community events.

Honourable Mention: Gensler Newport Beach; Newport Beach, California / Gensler

Realizing its own “Healthy Workplace Initiative,” Gensler has encouraged greater employee movement through its Newport Beach office space in California. Scooters, bikes and skateboards are now often used for inter-office travel. Less dramatic alterations like removing trash bins from individual desks to a central location and emphasising the importance of collaboration through an open office plan have all encouraged employees to move away from their desks more frequently.

The 2014 Jury: 

• David Burney, FAIA, Center for Active Design
• Christine Johnson Curtis, MBA, NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene
• William Menking, The Architect’s Newspaper
• Signe Nielsen, FASLA, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects

News via Center for Active Design