RESTON, Va., July 18, 2011 — The 2011 Brick in Architecture Awards have honored the highest level of brick design excellence that offers style and sustainability spanning all building sectors. Awarded by the Brick Industry Association (BIA), six of the eight Best in Class winners achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold or Silver certification including the first LEED Gold certified project in Tennessee. Winners’ reasons for choosing brick include its quality, long-term durability, environmental friendliness, aesthetics, low maintenance, increased seismic safety, thermal mass and design flexibility through color, texture, rhythm, human scale, pattern and repetition. Additionally, award-winning projects came from 25 states, which reflects the national reach and stature of this program.
“This year’s winning projects showed a growing trend toward brick as the main element in sustainable design that delivers aesthetic flexibility that matches the architect’s imagination and desires,” said BIA President and CEO Gregg Borchelt, P.E.
Judges include Eugenia Brieva, QPK Design, Syracuse, N.Y.; Bobby Eichholz, Rialto Studio Inc., San Antonia, Texas; Walter Jennings, Maurice Jennings Architect, Fayetteville, Ark.; and Paul Matheny, Matheny Goldmon Architects, AIA, Huntsville, Ala.
Paving & Landscape Architecture – Pittsburgh, Pa.
PNC Triangle Park
Landscape Architect: LaQuatra Bonci Associates
Builder: PJ Dick Inc.
Manufacturer: Whitacre-Greer Co.
Mason Contractor: Cost Construction
As the first new high-rise building in downtown Pittsburgh in 20 years, PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. erected a 752,000 square foot, 23-story Gold LEED-certified building. This building includes office space, an upscale hotel, a luxury condominium, a restaurant, retail, and a parking garage and has become the signature green building of the company that has the most LEED-certified properties of any company in the world. Situated at its prominent front corner is a new public park designed by LaQuatra Bonci Associates.
Located at the corner of Fifth and Liberty Avenues, this park provides ample seating and shade and sound-dampening from drought-resistant shade and woodland plantings that require little water. This passive setting serves not only as a public amenity but as an extension of the company’s corporate campus. Tracing the spine of the park and segmenting its formal and informal traits is its custom shade structure and seating that both welcome visitors and draw the eye to the entrance of the building.
Gold LEED-certified building • Recycled inner city site • Transit oriented development • 100% capture and infiltration of on-site storm water • Reduction in heat island effect – over 50% of the site will be shaded within 5 years • Durable and local (within 300 miles of site) materials • 84% site permeability – planting beds and brick pavers • Primarily native plantings • Silva Cell technology enhances soil capacity for long term growth and health of trees
