NATIONAL WINNERS:
Cafe 524 * Pittsburgh, PA
Design Team: Carnegie Mellon University Urban Design Build Studio
Community: Homewood Neighborhood
Grant Support: Richard King Mellon Foundation; Pittsburgh Foundation; Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburg (URA)
Construction Consultant: PJ Dick Construction
Support/Stakeholders: Homewood Children’s Village; Operation Better Block; Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh; PEIDC; Community Stewards Committed to the Revitalization of the Inner City; National Black Master’s of Business Administration Association; All Facilities Energy Group
“Café 524 truly embodies what SEED is all about- The design team started with a community facing urban blight, abandonment, high rates of crime and many unsafe areas and allowed the community to outline their own plan for tackling these issues: a café that would provide residents a safe place to meet, multiple inclusive programs including an on-site culinary job training program for local high school students, jobs and a Net-Zero Energy building. Multiple analyses performed prior to the design and thorough methods for measuring the success of the building set Cafe 524 apart as a top SEED project.”
Congo Street Initiative * Dallas, TX
Design Team: bcWORKSHOP
Community: Congo Street Residents
Grant Support: The City of Dallas Housing Department; The City of Dallas; The Meadows Foundation; The Real Estate Council; Citi and individual donors
Support/Stakeholders: AmeriCorps; Patriot Solar Power; University of Texas at Arlington; Vision Regeneration
“Congo Street Initiative is a great example of designers playing an activist role to establish trust and work on empowering an un-empowered community. Equity was not lost to developers but gained by the historic residents. In this project, design is used to celebrate the existing fabric with a better version. Goals were achieved through skill sets and knowledge beyond basic architecture skill sets. Other skills facilitated the design solution which led to the community solution. Extensive surveys and door to door communication preceded the designs.”
Studio H * Bertie County, NC
Design Team: Project H Design
Community: Bertie County public school students and families
Grant Support: Adobe Foundation; W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Support/Stakeholders: Pitt Community College; Town of Windsor; Bertie County school district; Bertie County Chamber of Commerce
“Studio H is a well-thought out and innovative approach to empower communities through design. The impact of Studio H is three-fold: educating and empowering underserved students through community-based design projects which in themselves are designed to take on specific community issues; these projects and processes then strengthen the families and students and communities who are Studio H.”
REGIONAL WINNERS:
Growing Home * Chicago, IL
Design Team: SHED Studio; Designs for Dignity
Community: Englewood
“Growing Home exemplifies a great partnership between local organizations, their community goals and design. The project responded to an LISC plan which included community participation by ‘developing urban agricultural districts.’ Growing Home addresses the need for providing community members with GEDs and workforce training.”
Inspirations Kitchen * Chicago, IL
A&E: Wheeler Kearns Architects; Wolff Landscape Architecture; dbHMS; Terra Engineering; Thornton Tomasetti
Community:East Garfield Park
Grant Support: Inspiration Corporation; University of Illinois at Chicago – ChiWest Resource Net; Field Foundation of Illinois; Golden Pearl Foundation; The Boeing Company; Pierce & Associates, Inc.; Service Club of Chicago; Illinois Clean; Energy Community Foundation and The Searle Fund at Chicago Community Trust
Construction: Heartland Construction Group; City Escapes
“Inspirations Kitchen is a very creative and holistic solution to hunger, homelessness and poverty. The project integrates partners effectively and created programs such as a Guest Certificate Program. Not only does Inspirations Kitchen reach out to the community to provide nutrition and job training, but the project team also met with 20 community organizational partners and additionally used blogs to actively engage the surrounding communities.”
St. Joseph Rebuild Center * New Orleans, LA
Designers: Dan Pitera , Detroit Collaborative Design Center
A&E: Wayne Troyer, AIA, Wayne Troyer Architects; Damien Serauskas (P.E.); Bruce Creighton (E.E.)
Community: New Olreans’ homeless community
Support/Stakeholders: Congregation of the Mission; The Harry Tompson Center of Immaculate Conception Parish; Jesuits of the New Orleans Province; Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Hispanic Apostolate Jesuit Volunteer Corps
Construction: Brandon Becker
“St. Joseph Rebuild Center innovatively used efficient functional modular units and connected them through beautifully designed outdoor walkways to provide the homeless of New Orleans with the basic necessities and also to aid in the transitional stages and challenges the homeless face in their efforts to get out of poverty.”
Thank you to all that submitted.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Butaro District Hospital in Butaro, Rwanda; Girubuntu Primary School in Butaro, Rwanda; Lydia Street Alley Flat in Austin, TX; Rehabilitation of Bhaldi Village in Bhuj India; Roche Health Center in Roche, Tanzania; Student Organic Farm in Clemson, SC