Northern Arizona University\u2019s Applied Research and Development building is the only building in the United States to receive an esteemed international award last week for its architectural design.<\/p>\n
The university\u2019s LEED Platinum-rated, environmentally friendly research facility is among 15 designs by international architects to receive the Royal Institute of British Architects’2009 International Award<\/a>, which recognizes the work done by its members around the world.<\/p>\n The list of award winners also includes the \u201cBird\u2019s Nest<\/a>\u201d and two other Beijing Olympics buildings, the\u00a0Saxo Bank<\/a>\u00a0building in Copenhagen and the\u00a0British High Commission<\/a>\u00a0in Sri Lanka. The ARD building was designed by the British firm of Hopkins Architects, in collaboration with Burns Wald-Hopkins Shambach Architects of Arizona.<\/p>\n Judges felt the architects\u2019 ability to \u201creshape their designs to take on board the need for more sustainable construction and lower energy consumption\u201d was impressive.<\/p>\n \u201cThe building uses 90 percent less energy than its equivalent counterparts on U.S. university campuses,\u201d writes Tony Chapman, head of the awards. \u201cOne-third of the construction materials were recycled from elsewhere. Yes, it is located in Arizona, and the building relies on an adjacent field of photovoltaics and a huge solar hot water collector, but that only begs the question of why no American architects designing in similar locations had previously picked up on these natural advantages.\u201d<\/p>\n Chapman added that the building \u201cmight be claimed as perhaps the most environmentally efficient building to-date\u201d in the United States.<\/p>\n The judges praised the project\u2019s designers, calling the facility \u201ctypical of the work of Hopkins Architects for incredibly well thought out and crafted modern design. This exemplar of sustainable design shows that remarkable environmental savings can be made without hysterical formal manipulation or self-congratulatory eco-posturing.\u201d<\/p>\n The 15 buildings to receive the institute\u2019s International Award were narrowed to a\u00a0short list<\/a>\u00a0of six schemes last week for consideration for the prestigious Lubetkin Prize, awarded for the best international building by an institute member for architecture. The Lubetkin Prize winner will be announced July 14 in London.<\/p>\n The full list of 15 RIBA International Award winners, from which the Lubetkin Prize short list was selected, is available\u00a0online<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"