Brooklyn’s Weeksville Heritage Center has won the Institutional Building Award presented by the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
The Weeksville Heritage Center is a new museum located in the heart of Brooklyn, New York with a multi-pronged mission of preservation and education. The Center acts as the steward of several historic houses that date from the Weeksville community’s African-American roots in the mid-19th century. The Center is located across from these preserved homes: a 23,000 square foot multidisciplinary educational and arts facility that houses classrooms, a library, and spaces for exhibitions, performances and lectures.
The Heritage Center’s missions of history, preservation and ecology are well-suited by the sustainable design ethos that went into the construction of the new building back in 2014. PWGC is proud to have contributed to this project by designing the Center’s vertical closed-loop geothermal system.
The AIANY COTE award is designed to encourage and reward the use of sustainable design in the architectural profession. Established in 2014 by the New York Chapter of AIA’s Committee on the Environment, the COTE awards program seeks to redefine how design excellence is evaluated. Many thanks to the NYC Department of Design & Construction and the Department of Cultural Affairs for supporting innovation in sustainable design!
Comments about the Weeksville Heritage Center by the Award Jury:
“The enormous community involvement here is impressive and to be able to do that and maintain an ambitions design is impressive. The process here was excellent.” – Daniel H. Nall, PE, FAIA, FASHRAE, LEED Fellow, BEMP, HBDP
“The project shows an admirable and genuine attempt at social equity.” – Hillary Brown, FAIA, LEED AP
“This project extends the idea of sustainability to social mission and engages the community beautifully.” – Sydney Mainster “I like the use of wood in this project, which appears to extend to the structural members.” – Robert Matthew Noblett, AIA