by Brianna Crandall — May 13, 2011—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has launched its first-ever Multifamily Midrise Design Competition. Based on USGBC’s LEED for Homes Multifamily Midrise green rating system, the competition offers professionals and students the opportunity to present their solutions for sustainable design for multifamily buildings of four to six stories.
The competition focuses on the entire 1300 block of Oretha C. Haley Boulevard between Thalia Street and Erato Street in New Orleans, which is the location of the former Myrtle Rosebella Banks Elementary School. USGBC says the competition promotes excellence in mid-rise design while at the same time helping to revitalize the O.C. Haley corridor.
The existing facility occupies less than half of the site and comprises a three-story, roughly 40,000-square-foot masonry structure. The competition calls upon applicants to design a new four-to-six story residential mixed-use building/complex in combination with a gut-rehab renovation and re-commissioning of the former school building.
Designs must: incorporate strategies for resilience, including the ability to withstand hurricanes with 150 mph wind; reflect attention to landscape design detail; include proposed methods for educating occupants on principles of sustainability; and follow the LEED for Homes Multifamily Midrise Green Building Rating System at the Platinum level.
The competition closes August 1, 2011, and the winner will be announced at USGBC’s Greenbuild Conference and Expo in October.
