The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) has announced the 2023 COTE® Top Ten Awards. The program celebrates design projects that have expertly integrated design excellence with innovative performance in ten key areas. The COTE® Top Ten projects illustrate the solutions architects provide for the health and welfare of our communities and planet.
Project submissions are required to demonstrate alignment with COTE’s rigorous criteria, which include social, economic, and ecological values. The four-member jury evaluates each project on the effectiveness of the holistic design solution and metrics associated with the ten principles of AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence.
The Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC) Mill 19: Buildings A & B is one of only ten projects recognized for significant achievements in holistic sustainability and advancing climate action and equity. A multi-phased adaptive reuse of a 1,300 foot-long, historic steel mill, the project is located within a larger development on a 170-acre brownfield site, Hazelwood Green, that is being transformed into a highly sustainable, mixed-use, high-tech innovation district. The design positions the new building as a box inside the steel structural frame of the old mill. It houses office space; areas for design, prototyping, and testing; and public areas, with tenants including Carnegie Mellon University’s Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Institute. The project features a range of sustainable measures to meet the goal of achieving LEED-NC v4 Gold certification and near net zero energy usage.
Pittsburgh’s R3A Architects, which has designed several projects at the site (CMU Robotics + Manufacturing Workforce Training Center – 2019 AIA PA Silver Medal recipient, Catalyst Connection) served as the Associate Architect on the project, while MSR Design, based in Minneapolis, led the design.
Image credit: Corey Gaffer