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2017 Best of Design Awards for Office & Retail

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2017 Best of Design Awards for Office & Retail

2017 Best of Design Award for Office & Retail: Albina Yard

Architect: LEVER Architecture
Location: Portland, Oregon

Albina Yard is the first building in the United States made from domestically fabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT). This new 16,000-square-foot speculative office building utilizes mass timber construction, with a glue-laminated timber frame and CLT panels manufactured and prefabricated in Riddle, Oregon. The project’s primary goal was to utilize domestic CLT in a market-rate office building that would pave the way for broader adoption of renewable mass timber construction technologies in Oregon and the United States. The design approach reflects a commitment to this sustainable technology by developing an architecture focused on economy and simplicity, material expression, and the careful resolution and integration of all building systems to foreground the beauty of the exposed Douglas fir structural frame.

“As a structural strategy, mass timber is very similar to a cast-in-place concrete structure in terms of layout and function of its individual elements. The main difference is the character and humaneness of the remaining spaces.  It is very well-suited for this type of use.” —Nathaniel Stanton, principal, Craft Engineer Studio (juror)

General Contractor:
Reworks

Structural Engineer:
KPFF Consulting Engineers

CLT Supplier:
DR Johnson Lumber

CNC Routing:
Cut My Timber

 

Honorable Mention

Project: Cummins Indy Distribution Headquarters
Architect: Deborah Berke Partners
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

This new office building reinforces an active pedestrian experience that is connected to downtown Indianapolis and its parkland. The unusually slender floorplan and high ceilings provide abundant natural daylight for every space and minimize reliance on electricity. A high-performance “calibrated” facade and an integrated system of fins and shades limit heat gain and increase thermal comfort.

 

Honorable Mention

Project: Zurich North America Headquarters
Architect: Goettsch Partners
Location: Schaumburg, Illinois

Located on a 40-acre expressway site in suburban Chicago, the North American headquarters of the Swiss Zurich Insurance Group reflects the company’s global reach and commitment to sustainability. Composed of three primary “bars” that are offset and stacked, the arrangement creates unique spaces for collaboration, opens views of the surrounding landscape, optimizes solar orientation for amenities, and provides programmatic flexibility.

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