Congratulations to our 2015 Award winners, announced at at the Power Plant at the American Tobacco Campus on April 29!
Developer Roger Perry of East-West Partners provided a brief keynote address, followed by presentation of awards to recipients by local Meteorologist Chris Hohmann of WTVD ABC11.
In 2015, two projects won a GOLD Greater Triangle Stewardship Award and one project received an honorable mention.
Rivermill Project – Upper Mill, Saxapahaw
This redevelopment project was awarded a Gold Stewardship Development Award, the program’s highest-level award. Rivermill Village, LLC, in conjunction with Clearscapes and Alphin Design Build, rehabilitated a partially abandoned former textile mill in Saxapahaw. The Upper Mill Project an exceptional example of redevelopment that positively respected its pastoral rural setting. Features included:
- maintenance of the existing building footprints (no new built-upon areas).
- wooded interior timbers repurposed from the original mill or locally sourced from timbers from other former mills.
- walking/hiking trails for residents and visitors as well as users of the Mountains to Sea and Haw River Trails.
- an amphitheater for community gatherings constructed in the former coal pit.
- a bioretention pond and a series of protective wetlands that clean runoff before it reaches the Haw River.
- re-plumbing that will allow grey water to be used for toilet flushing in the future.
- irrigation of landscaping with captured rainwater.
- solar energy to heat water and buildings.
- herb gardens tended by Hawbridge School students that supply on-site businesses.
Northside Elementary School, Chapel Hill
This redevelopment project was also awarded a Gold Stewardship Development Award, the program’s highest-level award. Northside Elementary School was originally home to the African-American Orange County Training School, built in 1924, most of which had been abandoned. By redeveloping this site, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, with Timmons Group and Moseley Architects, realized a great opportunity to revitalize the Northside neighborhood while avoiding the ecological impacts that come from building on a new site.
The project recently became the first LEED Platinum elementary school in North Carolina, and it is one of only four LEED Platinum elementary schools in the entire country.Features included:
- careful deconstruction of the existing buildings, which permitted high rates of material reuse and recycling.
- enhancement of a local greenway, a resource conservation area, and a community garden.
- porous pavers, porous playgrounds, green roofs, and an underground stormwater detention basin.
- a 60,000-gallon underground cistern, which provides water for toilet fixtures and a cooling tower.
- a second 5,000-gallon cistern, which irrigates the school garden.
- tree preservation and invasive species removal.
Park West Village, Morrisville
This 100-acre mixed-use development project by Casto Southeast Realty and Withers & Ravenel was awarded a “Stewardship Honorable Mention for Stormwater Management and Reuse of Demolition Materials.” Features included:
- a unique wetland for treating stormwater that has more habitat for wildlife than conventional methods.
- maintenance of the wetland, which shows the developers’ commitment to long-term stewardship.
- site preparation for redevelopment included its use for emergency personnel training and selling/re-using demolition materials.