Architecture Students Win First Stage of National Green Housing Competition

A team of seven Kansas State University architecture students was awarded first place by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Central Plains Chapter in the local chapter stage of the USGBC Natural Talent Design Competition: Small, Green, Affordable.

The USGBC, in partnership with the Salvation Army through its EnviRenew Initiative, chose to focus this year’s competition on the rebuilding effort in New Orleans, LA. The students were tasked with designing an 800 square foot house for elderly residents in the Broadmoor neighborhood of New Orleans. In addition, the house needed to meet the requirements for LEED for Homes Platinum certification, stay within a $100,000 construction budget, and use universal design principles throughout. The student team now moves on to the national level competing for the chance to actually construct and evaluate their design.

Entitled “[adapt] Broadmoor”, the students designed and documented their competition entry under the direction of Assistant Professor of Architecture Michael McGlynn during a May 2010 Intersession class. The seven students who participated in the class are Andres Alfaro (Houston, TX), Lucas Bergstrom (Lawrence, KS), Jacob Campbell (Derby, KS), Zachary Farrell (Dallas, TX), Kathryn Hawkes (St. Louis, MO), Heather Kuhn (San Antonio, TX), and Lauren Pogue (Alexandria, VA). In addition to the competition entry itself, the students developed and assembled a publication that documents not only the outcomes of the design studio but the process that lead to these outcomes as well. The publication is available as a download, for free, and in paperback, at cost, from the following links:

www.lulu.com/product/paperback/%5Badapt%5D-broadmoor/11784907 (download)

www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/%5badapt%5d-broadmoor/9100809 (paperback)

The students engaged in a collaborative approach, each assuming responsibility for one major component of the project. Students quickly discovered that, while specialization allowed them to become well versed in a particular area, communication early and often amongst team members was critical to achieving a high performing, integrated design within budget. A parallel realization was the integral nature of the technical and formal design aspects of the project. Aesthetics remained of utmost importance, but all students saw the impact of their design decisions in relation to other issues of importance such as building performance, accessibility, and construction cost. Knowing that their scheme would be built if they won proved to be a strong motivator for the team. They knew that their design decisions could have a real impact within the Broadmoor neighborhood and upon those individuals who would eventually live in the house. To a great extent, this collaborative, integrated, and real-world design approach mirrored that which the students will find in practice.

In the second stage of the competition, the student team competed at the national level against 24 other local chapter winners. Two student and two emerging professional schemes were chosen for construction. The four national finalists will be recognized this November at the USGBC GreenBuild Conference in Chicago. After construction, the four houses will be tested for performance with the highest performing house awarded the grand prize at the USGBC GreenBuild Conference in 2011. The four finalists are listed at www.usgbc.org/Docs/News/NTDC%20Finalists_Aug%202010.pdf

For more information, contact:
Michael McGlynn, 785.532.1896
CAPD@ksu.edu, 785.532.1090