Awards: Grand Prize > Citation Awards > Honorable Mentions

Innovative and well-executed sustainable designs at the pre-K to 12 and college and university levels earned high marks from Learning By Design judges in this year’s competition. As a result, judges awarded four Citation of Excellence Awards to green design projects—two at the pre-K to 12 level and two at the college/university level. These and many other green design projects are featured in this year’s new Green Special Section (see page 30).

Judges noted outstanding sustainable strategies and building attributes among green award winners—including soil composts, stormwater collection systems, butterfly gardens, photovoltaic panels, and water-reuse demonstration areas—and praised many of these design projects for also serving as environmental teaching tools. Many of the Citation of Excellence Award winners—10 in all—also utilized carefully planned finishing techniques to add touches of beauty to buildings, making them less institutional and creating nurturing environments for students. Examples include strategic use of natural materials and rich color palettes, judges noted. Additional award-winning attributes cited by judges include abundant natural light, transparency between building spaces, and effective break down of building scale.

The following firms earned Learning By Design 2008 Citation of Excellence Awards for their entries in this year’s competition:

PRE-K TO 12

Pine Jog - Zyscovich Inc.

Zyscovich, Inc., Miami, FL, received a Citation of Excellence Award for Pine Jog Elementary School and the Florida Atlantic University Environmental Education Center, West Palm Beach, FL. Learning By Design judges praised the project’s regenerative site design that effectively doubles as a teaching tool. The 20-acre site features include butterfly gardens, water-reuse demonstration areas, soil composting, and stormwater collection, among other green initiatives. Plus, judges noted, this innovative design project illustrates an educational trend that is growing in popularity—building a lab school on a college campus. The university’s College of Education offers student teaching opportunities at the Environmental Education Center, where K-5 students learn about environmental stewardship.

Woodrow Wilson High School, Phase I - Benjamin Benschneider

NAC|Architecture, Seattle, WA, received a Citation of Excellence Award for Woodrow Wilson High School—Phase I, Tacoma, WA. “This is a green building, but it’s also a very good school,” Learning By Design judges commented. “They haven’t made any compromises. In fact, they’ve enhanced the campus.” The first phase of this high school features a new three-story building that houses 25 general classrooms, nine science classrooms, six computer labs, a therapeutic learning center, a library, and administration and guidance centers. “It was all shoe-horned into the site in a very skillful way,” judges noted. “They’ve made a robust effort to handle all of this in the design to make sure their goals are being achieved in this building.” Also featured in this year’s Green Special Section, this design project features sustainable components throughout, such as exterior sunshades, photosensitive control of classroom lighting, and a displacement ventilation system.

COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES

University of Maine Student Innovation Center - Kim Roseberry

Oak Point Associates, Biddeford, ME, received a Citation of Excellence Award for the University of Maine Student Innovation Center, Orono, ME. “Each exterior elevation is different for its orientation of the site,” which illustrates careful planning for maximum natural daylight in the building, said Learning By Design judges. The main entrance to the center features floor-to-ceiling windows that flood the 5,000-square-foot building with natural light and provide views of the surrounding woods. One of four green design projects to win a Citation of Excellence Award, the University of Maine Student Innovation Center was carefully constructed to minimize the clearance of trees. A planned boardwalk will be built by students using recycled plastic timber developed at the university’s Advanced Wood Composites Research and Development facility.

University of Utah, Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles Health Sciences Education Building - Rob Beishline

VCBO Architecture/Ellenzweig, Salt Lake City, UT, received a Citation of Excellence Award for the University of Utah, Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles Health Sciences Education Building, Salt Lake City, UT. This new LEED-certified building serves 1,100 students and features a striking four-story atrium at its center that allows for visual connections between levels. “It’s a beautiful building,” Learning By Design judges commented. “It’s elegantly designed, very vibrant and lively.” Judges also praised this green design project for its flexible floor plan. “It has a variety of teaching spaces that show responsiveness to programmatic need,” judges said.