PHILADELPHIA, February 23, 2011 – The first Ivy League university to be part of the American College and University’s President’s Climate Commitment now has its first LEED Platinum facility. The $13 million Horticulture Center at the University of Pennsylvania Morris Arboretum opened in October 2010 and just achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification, the highest rating given by the U.S. Green Building Council. It is the second not-for-profit LEED Platinum project in the state of Pennsylvania. The 20,840 square foot, multi-building Horticulture Center is located at Bloomfield Farm, a 70-acre site within the larger Morris Arboretum. The project is part of the last key component of the university’s 1977 masterplan for a modern botanical garden.

The Horticulture Center serves arboretum staff and includes four separate facilities. The office building has work stations for 28, plus conference rooms and a staff lounge. A mechanic’s shop and garages are adjacent to the office building, and there are two carpentry shops. Overland Partners Architects of San Antonio, Texas, led the design team, which included local landscape architecture firm Andropogon Associates and m2 architects. Penn challenged Overland Partners to create a “forward looking” building of national significance that incorporates the highest standards in sustainable principles while maintaining a modest budget in keeping with the modest building size.

The Horticulture Center is an important demonstration project for sustainable features that will be increasingly adopted across the Penn campus as part of the university’s Climate Action Plan. Penn President Amy Gutmann was the first Ivy League university president to sign the American College and University’s President’s Climate Commitment, and Penn’s Climate Action Plan is an outcome of that pledge.

“The Horticulture Center presented a perfect opportunity for us to actively pursue aspects of every goal in our Climate Action Plan. The new center will use 40% less energy than conventionally-built facilities, we diverted 75% of construction waste from landfills, and we achieved the highest level possible of LEED certification,” said Dan Garofolo, Penn Environmental Sustainability Coordinator. “Perhaps most importantly, the Horticulture Center is a functioning example of the level of sustainability that is possible; it will certainly lead by example and raise the bar for all other new buildings at Penn.”

Some of the sustainable features of the Horticulture Center include:

●      Geothermal heating and cooling, ample daylighting, and operable windows, to reduce the overall demand for electricity throughout the year

●      Rainwater harvesting for use in landscape irrigation and toilet flushing

●      Highly flexible and durable facility which is designed to accept changing technology

●      Rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels and solar hot water collectors provide on-site renewable energy that would otherwise come from the utility power grid

●      Green roofs, planted with indigenous, low-maintenance plants, mitigate storm water runoff and reduce the heat island effect

●      Recycled content included in the project’s steel, concrete and other materials constitutes more than 20 percent, by cost, of the total building materials used

●      Locally-sourced building materials and construction debris recycling

“The new space provides the infrastructure needed to match the tremendous growth the Arboretum has experienced over the past 30 years and to address future expansion of the institution,” said Paul Meyer, director of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. “The ‘green’ elements of the Horticulture Center serve an even greater function, by providing unique opportunities to educate the public about the importance of protecting our natural resources. By building a Horticulture Center that is LEED Platinum certified, we are continuing the tradition of respecting nature and harvesting the natural resources of the land to build a renewable future.”

The Morris Arboretum is a 166-acre historic public garden and educational institution with winding paths and colorful gardens that include a formal rose garden, sculpture garden, Japanese garden, garden railway, and a 450-foot long canopy walk that transports visitors 50 feet up into the treetops. It opened its doors to the public in 1933 on land donated by wealthy Quaker siblings Lydia and John Morris. Today, the Morris Arboretum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the official arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The Horticulture Center at the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania is one of numerous arboretum-related commissions for Overland Partners. The firm completed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas in Austin, winner of more than 10 regional and national design awards; Overlook Pavilion at The Arboretum at Penn State University, winner of a Texas Society of Architects’ 2010 Design Award; and the Holden Arboretum Visitor Center outside of Cleveland, Ohio and the Botanic Gardens of Western Pennsylvania, both currently in design. Other higher education projects within the firm’s design portfolio include the new Business School Building at Baylor University in Waco, Texas; the new Academic Building at the University of North Texas at Dallas; the new Student Activity Center and the new College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin; the new Continuing Education Center at Rice University in Houston; and the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania.

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ABOUT OVERLAND PARTNERS

Overland Partners Architects, founded in 1987 in San Antonio, Texas, is the realization of a vision to bring together a wide range of talents in architecture and planning in order to provide comprehensive design services. Sensitive to the environmental and aesthetic contexts of its projects, the firm strives for a thoughtful integration of technology, art, and craft through highly sustainable solutions. Overland Partners offers its clients the ultimate goal of creating beautiful, functional and enduring designs through a collaborative process that inspires long-term relationships. For more information, visit www.overlandpartners.com.

High-resolution images available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/40948653@N07/sets/72157625075501423/detail

Interviews available upon request.

www.facebook.com/overlandpartners

www.Twitter.com/OverlandPartner

Media Contact: Cooper Smith
cooper@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191

PHILADELPHIA, February 15, 2011 – The first Ivy League university to be part of the American College and University’s President’s Climate Commitment will soon have its first LEED Platinum facility. The $13 million Horticulture Center at the University of Pennsylvania Morris Arboretum opened in October 2010 and is pending Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification, the highest rating given by the U.S. Green Building Council. The 20,840 square foot, multi-building Horticulture Center is located at Bloomfield Farm, a 70-acre site within the larger Morris Arboretum. The project is part of the last key component of the university’s 1977 masterplan for a modern botanical garden.

The Horticulture Center serves arboretum staff and includes four separate facilities. The office building has work stations for 28, plus conference rooms and a staff lounge. A mechanic’s shop and garages are adjacent to the office building, and there are two carpentry shops. Overland Partners Architects of San Antonio, Texas, led the design team, which included local landscape architecture firm Andropogon Associates and m2 architects. The university challenged Overland Partners to create a “forward looking” building of national significance that incorporates the highest standards in sustainable principles.

The Horticulture Center is an important demonstration project for sustainable features that will be increasingly adopted across the Penn campus as part of the university’s Climate Action Plan. Penn President Amy Gutmann was the first Ivy League university president to sign the American College and University’s President’s Climate Commitment, and Penn’s Climate Action Plan is an outcome of that pledge.

“The Horticulture Center presented a perfect opportunity for us to actively pursue aspects of every goal in our Climate Action Plan. The new center will use 40% less energy than conventionally-built facilities, we diverted 75% of construction waste from landfills, and we anticipate LEED Platinum certification,” said Dan Garofolo, Penn Environmental Sustainability Coordinator. “Perhaps most importantly, the Horticulture Center is a functioning example of the deep level of sustainability that is possible; it will certainly lead by example and raise the bar for all other new buildings at Penn.”

Some of the sustainable features of the Horticulture Center include:

●      Geothermal heating and cooling, ample daylighting, and operable windows, to reduce the overall demand for electricity throughout the year

●      Rainwater harvesting for use in landscape irrigation and toilet flushing

●      Highly flexible and durable facility which is designed to accept changing technology

●      Rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels and solar hot water collectors provide on-site renewable energy that would otherwise come from the utility power grid

●      Green roofs, planted with indigenous, low-maintenance plants, mitigate storm water runoff and reduce the heat island effect

●      Recycled content included in the project’s steel, concrete and other materials constitutes more than 20 percent, by cost, of the total building materials used

●      Locally-sourced building materials and construction debris recycling

“The new space provides the infrastructure needed to match the tremendous growth the Arboretum has experienced over the past 30 years and to address future expansion of the institution,” said Paul Meyer, director of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. “The ‘green’ elements of the Horticulture Center serve an even greater function, by providing unique opportunities to educate the public about the importance of protecting our natural resources. By building a Horticulture Center that is LEED Platinum certified, we are continuing the tradition of respecting nature and harvesting the natural resources of the land to build a renewable future.”

The Morris Arboretum is a 166-acre historic public garden and educational institution with winding paths and colorful gardens that include a formal rose garden, sculpture garden, Japanese garden, garden railway, and a 450 foot long canopy walk that transports visitors 50 feet up into the treetops. It opened its doors to the public in 1933 on land donated by wealthy Quaker siblings Lydia and John Morris. Today, the Morris Arboretum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the official arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The Horticulture Center at the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania is one of numerous arboretum-related commissions for Overland Partners. The firm completed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas in Austin, winner of more than 10 regional and national design awards; Overlook Pavilion at The Arboretum at Penn State University, winner of a Texas Society of Architects’ 2010 Design Award; and the Holden Arboretum Visitor Center outside of Cleveland, Ohio, and Botanic Gardens of Western Pennsylvania, both currently in design. Other higher education projects within the firm’s design portfolio include the new Business School Building at Baylor University in Waco, Texas; the new Academic Building at the University of North Texas at Dallas; the new Student Activity Center and the new College of Liberal Arts buildings at the University of Texas at Austin; the new Continuing Education Center at Rice University in Houston; and the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania.

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ABOUT OVERLAND PARTNERS

Overland Partners Architects, founded in 1987 in San Antonio, Texas, is the realization of a vision to bring together a wide range of talents in architecture and planning in order to provide comprehensive design services. Sensitive to the environmental and aesthetic contexts of its projects, the firm strives for a thoughtful integration of technology, art, and craft through highly sustainable solutions. Overland Partners offers its clients the ultimate goal of creating beautiful, functional and enduring designs through a collaborative process that inspires long-term relationships. For more information, visitwww.overlandpartners.com.

Interviews and high-resolution images available upon request.

Facebook.com/overlandpartners

Twitter.com/OverlandPartner

February 11, 2011, Cambridge, Mass. - The 2011 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) committe has selected five finalists from architecture, landscape, urban design and other projects across the United States that are both excellently designed and have transformative impacts on their urban environments. The selected projects are: The Bridge Homeless Assistance Center in Dallas; Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn; Phoenix’s Civic Space Park; the Gary Comer Youth Center in Chicago; and Santa Fe’s Railyard Redevelopment. 

Finalist projects, which are selected biennially, receive a minimum $10,000 Silver Medal Award, with one project elevated to a $50,000 Gold Medal Award.

“Our finalists undeniably changed, and continue to change, the way their communities think and operate,” said RBA director Brandy H. M. Brooks. “From engaging homeless residents as valued and respected citizens to supporting community-driven redevelopment of a major public parcel, these projects are not only shaping their physical environments, but also building and cementing new partnerships among individuals and institutions.”

In the coming months, each finalist project will be visited by a study team that will interview project stakeholders, including designers, developers and public officials, as well as members of the surrounding community. Based on reports from the site visit teams, the RBA Selection Committee will determine the Gold Medalist at their second meeting this May.

The 2011 RBA Selection Committee members are Mayor Lisa Wong of Fitchburg, MA; Randy Gragg, editor-in-chief of Portland Monthly in Portland, OR; Dan Pitera, executive director of the Detroit Collaborative Design Center in Detroit; Renata Simril, managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle in Los Angeles; Edward Uhlir, executive director of Chicago’s Millennium Park; and Jess Zimbabwe, executive director of the Urban Land Institute’s Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use in Washington, DC.

The five finalists represent a broad range of project types and community goals.

●      The Bridge Homeless Assistance Center demonstrates that cities can restore dignity and power to their least privileged residents through beautiful architecture and new community relationships. (Designed by San Antonio-based Overland Partners and Dallas-based Camargo Copeland.)

●      Civic Space Park illustrates the power of university-community partnerships in creating a revitalized downtown for the city of Phoenix. (Designed by AECOM, landscape architecture.)

●      The Gary Comer Youth Center provides a safe haven and educational opportunities for at-risk youth with a landmark community facility in one of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods. (Designed by Chicago-based John Ronan Architects.)

●      The Santa Fe Railyard Redevelopment combines new commercial, residential and open space development with improved transportation links to bring life to an underutilized area of Santa Fe. (Landscape architecture by New York-based Ken Smith Landscape Architect; New York-based Frederic Schwartz Architects, architecture; Masterplan by Surroundings Studio LLC of Santa Fe; and public art designed by Mary Miss of New York.)

●      Brooklyn Bridge Park uses exceptional landscape design to reconnect a community to its waterfront, enabling both social gatherings and environmental education. (Designed by Brooklyn-based Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, landscape architecture.)

“This diverse collection of projects clearly affirms the RBA’s philosophy: that urban excellence comes from the interplay of process, place and values, and that it can take many different forms. We ask our applicants to make the case for their definition of excellence, and in doing so, we often learn something that challenges our own preconceived ideas,” added Brooks.

About the RBA:

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) seeks to discover exceptional projects and places that transform urban problems into creative solutions. A program of the Bruner Foundation in Cambridge, Mass., the RBA recognizes one Gold Medal Winner and four Silver Medal winners in each biennial cycle. The Gold Medal Winner is awarded $50,000, and each Silver Medalist $10,000. The RBA is distinguished from other award programs by its broad eligibility criteria, the multi-disciplinary Selection Committee, and the detailed on-site evaluation of each finalist. Since 1987, the RBA has recognized more than 60 projects that demonstrate urban excellence – the interplay of process, place and values in creating a rich and diverse urban experience. The Award highlights the complex process of urban place-making; each Award cycle is documented in a book that includes in-depth case studies of the winners and a distillation of the Selection Committee discussion. The publications are available online or in hard copy from the Bruner Foundation at http://www.brunerfoundation.org/rba. For more information, please call (617) 492-8404 or e-mail rba2011@brunerfoundation.org.

About the Bruner Foundation:

The Bruner Foundation was established in New York in 1963 by Rudy Bruner. In its early years, the Foundation strategy was to support innovative programs that challenged existing social patterns and introduced new models of practice. More recently, the Foundation has developed and continues to direct innovative programs of its own that have established new standards of practice in their respective fields. The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, a national award for urban places, was founded in 1987 by architect Simeon Bruner. The Bruner Loeb Forum, a collaboration between the Rudy Bruner Award and the Loeb Fellowship at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, seeks to advance thinking on a variety of topics relating to the urban built environment. Similarly, the recently completed Rochester Effectiveness Partnership and its successor, the EthOS Project, have created new methods for improving the effectiveness of non-profit service delivery. Building collaborative partnerships, leveraging resources and tackling complex societal issues are the common threads of the Foundation’s 40-year history.

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Links:

●      RBA Past Winners

●      RBA Selection Committees

●      RBA Publications

Media Contacts:
Brandy H. M. Brooks, Bruner Foundation
(617) 715-3127, rba2011@brunerfoundation.org
Cooper Smith Koch, PR Rep for Overland Partners
(214) 329-9191, cooper@coopersmithagency.com

The San Antonio Express-News ran a HUGE feature story, with photo, on the cover of its business section about our client Overland Partners being named “Firm of the Year” by the Texas Society of Architects.

Read the story here…

SAN ANTONIO, September 15, 2010 – San Antonio-based Overland Partners Architects has been named 2010 Firm of the Year by the Texas Society of Architects (TSA). The Architecture Firm Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a Texas architecture practice, annually recognizes one firm in Texas that has consistently produced distinguished architecture in the state for at least 10 years and has contributed significantly to the profession and to the community.

“They epitomize all facets of the honor – making significant contributions to the profession and the community while creating some of the most distinguished architecture of our time and place. They have an office culture of giving that grows out of the strong moral and ethical backbones of the partners,” said 2010 TSA president Heather McKinney.

For more than two decades, Overland Partners has been fostering collaborative relationships and discovery processes that push architecture beyond aesthetics and shelter. With a mission “to influence the world through the practice of architecture,” the firm strives to use architecture as a medium for transformation.

“We believe that architecture is our means to a specific end. Our projects bring people back into a relationship with the land, their history and each other. We strive to make places that are both beautiful and profoundly useful. For us, a successful project is one where our clients see themselves and their personal vision reflected in the design,” said Overland Partners’ managing principal Robert Schmidt.

Since the firm’s first national commission, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, the power of its values-based design philosophy, as well as its commitment to rigorous research and critical thinking before the first sketch is drawn, has been evident. To achieve Lady Bird’s vision of the center “to look like God put it there,” Overland Partners invited botanists, horticulturists and landscape architects to collaborate on the design, ultimately creating a space that was considered in national architecture press as “the most provocative project of 1995.” More importantly to Overland Partners, it represented the passion and purpose of the former First Lady. After she lost her voice to a stroke, she once communicated through her assistant that the “buildings were now her voice.”

That first national commission not only transformed they way the City of Austin valued the use of natural landscape and sustainability in public places, but also led to a bevy of design awards and national exposure that validated the firm’s deliberate, collaborative, mission-driven approach. It ultimately helped establish the firm as more than just a team of great designers, but rather strategic advisors and problem solvers who bring together a collaborative team of outside experts to solve a community’s problems or to tell a client’s story in an impactful way.

More than 15 years and hundreds of successful projects later, Overland Partners has had the opportunity to extend their influence beyond Texas. In 2001, after a national search, Penn State University chose Overland to design a new school of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.  Through Overland’s signature design process the resulting building helped propel the school, for the first time, into the Top Ten schools of architecture in the United States and was also the school’s first successful attempt in achieving LEED Gold certification.

Locally, Overland has impacted its own city with the design of two iconic buildings in San Antonio: the Clear Channel Communication Headquarters and the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA). Designed for one of the largest and fastest growing companies in the nation, the Clear Channel Headquarters set a new precedent for architecture in San Antonio. With 11 projects at SAMA, Overland has been able to integrate modern functional design in a way that has enhanced the existing facility and made it an increasingly popular tourist attraction.

Most recently, Overland Partners has led task forces of community organizations, civic entities and design firms to design homeless assistance centers built on the premise of unlocking the collective power of many nonprofit groups, all with the goal of serving the city’s homeless population with dignity and respect. These homeless assistance centers, The Bridge in Dallas and Haven for Hope in San Antonio, have become international models for how cities can care for their needy. Since its opening in 2008, The Bridge has been honored by many prestigious national and international groups, including the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Housing Award, the AIA/HUD (Housing & Urban Development) Secretary Award and the 2010 international “[Re]Branding Homelessness” Award for Design given by South Africa-based GROUP.

“The Bridge and Haven for Hope demonstrate our philosophy that, through collaboration and purposeful planning, architecture can be a very powerful tool in helping communities come together to solve their most trying challenges,” said Schmidt.

About Overland Partners:

Overland Partners Architects was founded in 1987 in San Antonio, Texas, and grown to a staff of 60. The firm’s work experience includes design and master planning projects for public and private clients in the United States, Latin America, Europe, China and Africa.  Overland’s projects have been acknowledged through more than 120 national, state and local design awards and featured in national and international publications. For more information about Overland Partners Architects, visit www.overlandpartners.com.

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Interviews and high-resolution images available upon request.

Media Contact: Cooper Smith
cooper@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191

In this week’s edition, ArchitectureWeek featured the Penn State Arboretum’s Overlook Pavilion, which was designed by our client Overland Partners.

Read more here

What a gorgeous write-up on Penn State Arboretum and its goal for LEED Silver certification! Featured heavily was Overland Partners design of the arboretum’s Overlook Pavilion.

Read the story here…

The Dallas Morning News included a write-up on the prestigious international architecture award received by The Bridge Homeless Assistance Center, which was designed by our San Antonio-based client, Overland Partners.

Read the story

The Overlook Pavilion at the H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens is the architectural anchor to the University’s Arboretum; Recent winner of 2010 Texas Society of Architects’ Design Award and also seeking LEED Silver certification

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., August 5, 2010 – The long-awaited first phase of the H. O. Smith Botanic Gardens’ master plan of The Arboretum at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) is complete. The highlight of the project, the Overlook Pavilion, serves as the architectural anchor and the “front door” to the 365-acre Arboretum at Penn State. It was designed by San Antonio-based Overland Partners Architects, in association with Pittsburgh-based MTR Landscape Architects, with the dual goal of creating a vibrant educational center and a first-class events center that contributes to the education and quality of life on campus and offers an opportunity for the community to engage with the University.

Phase II of the Arboretum’s H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens’ master plan includes the plantings of species from around the world and new state-of-the-art educational and research facilities, including a visitors’ center, conservatory and children’s education center. Once complete, The Arboretum and its H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens are expected to be a major cultural and tourist destination in central Pennsylvania, attracting nearly 200,000 visitors annually.

The Overlook Pavilion’s main purpose is to create distinct exterior spaces and house services for the Arboretum. It is comprised of two stone volumes that are tied together with a soaring roof structure and exterior porches made of steel and wood. The stone volumes contain public restrooms, volunteer offices, tool storage and mechanical spaces, while the roof structure and porches create a variety of outdoor areas and terraces to allow people to gather in small groups or for events accommodating up to 200 guests. It sits on the Arboretum’s highest point, acting as the link between the botanical gardens and event lawn to the south and the natural landscape and watershed to the north.

Currently seeking LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the Overlook Pavilion uses efficient geothermal ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling, utilizes local and recycled content materials, contains a reflective roof to reduce the heat island affect, and employs an innovative stormwater management system to educate visitors while using the collected water on site. These “green” systems support the overall sustainable strategy of decreasing the impact of the structure by reducing enclosed conditioned program space and by providing visitors and staff comfortable exterior space.

Another benefit of the Overlook Pavilion is that its exterior spaces can be used throughout the year, utilizing natural ventilation (to block severe winter wind and/or rain) and shade protection (to block the sun). The structure of the building also shapes the visitor experience and protects the visitor from undesirable site impacts. By eliminating these distractions, it helps visitors focus on the Arboretum message.

“Each year from April to November, the event terrace will be covered by an elegant white tent anchored to the stone buildings and tilted down to the southwest, which will block winds and weather.  At night, the space under the tent can be lit to create a beautiful space for events. The complex is also wrapped in plantings to the north and south, which recall the richness of the Appalachian forests while reinforcing the views to the east and the west,” said Kim C. Steiner, director of The Arboretum at Penn State.

“Since its opening, the Overlook Pavilion has undoubtedly become part of Penn State life and part of the treasured memories that students will have of their time at the University,” added Steiner.

The Overlook Pavilion was recently honored with a 2010 Texas Society of Architects (TSA) Design Award, which honors outstanding architectural projects throughout the U.S. that promote public interest in architectural excellence.

The Overlook Pavilion at Penn State marks the second project that Overland Partners has completed at the University, the other being the LEED Gold certified School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, completed in 2005. Other higher education institutions within their design portfolio include the new Business School Building at Baylor University in Waco, Texas; the new Academic Building at the University of North Texas at Dallas; the new Student Activity Center and School of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin; the new Continuing Education Center at Rice University in Houston; and the new Morris Arboretum at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

ABOUT OVERLAND PARTNERS

Overland Partners Architects, founded in 1987 in San Antonio, Texas, is a realization of a vision to bring together a wide range of talents in architecture and planning, in order to provide comprehensive design services.  Sensitive to the environmental and aesthetic contexts of their projects, the firm strives for a thoughtful integration of technology, art, and craft through highly sustainable solutions.  Overland Partners Architects offers its clients the ultimate goal of creating a beautiful, functional and enduring design through a process that inspires long-term relationships and is rewarding to the entire project team.  For more information, visit www.overlandpartners.com.

# # #

Interviews and high-resolution images available upon request

Media Contact: Claire Bloxom
claire@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191

Designed by Overland Partners Architects and CamargoCopeland Architects, LLP, “The Bridge” Homeless Assistance Center won the “Best Architectural Entry” award from the International Rebranding Homelessness Competition exhibited at the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa

DALLAS, August 2, 2010 – “The Bridge” Homeless Assistance Center in downtown Dallas is no longer considered just the standard bearer for homeless center design in the United States, but it is now the world’s model for homeless center design, since winning the “Best Architectural Entry” award in the International Rebranding Homelessness Competition, hosted by South Africa’s Tshwane Leadership Foundation. The competition honors homeless facilities and initiatives around the world that seek to develop a new language, new visions and new approaches to addressing homelessness, challenge perpetuating myths and perceptions, and demonstrate viable alternatives, both to homelessness and to the way in which homelessness is dealt.

Designed by San Antonio-based Overland Partners Architects and Dallas-based CamargoCopeland Architects, LLP, the 75,000-square-foot multi-purpose homeless facility was exhibited at the Better World Village in Pretoria, South Africa, a month-long festival with the goal of promoting global social concerns. Coinciding with the 2010Soccer World Cup, the Better Global Village drew more than 20,000 international leaders who offered a range of replicable ideas and methods on issues affecting our world, such as International Leadership Foundations and groups exploring urban innovation.

Completed in May 2008 and situated on a previously developed 3.41-acre site in Dallas’ central business district, The Bridge provides a broad spectrum of care including housing, emergency and transitional care for more than 6,000 people in Dallas experiencing long-term homelessness.  Consisting of five buildings that create a courtyard in the center of the campus as well as engaging the surrounding community, The Bridge incorporates a three-story services building, a one-story welcome building, a storage building, an open air pavilion, and a dining facility, which serves as a focal point to the interior landscaped courtyard of the campus and also as a food magnet providing social workers with an opportunity to connect with the homeless.

“Since the opening of the Bridge, more than 2.5 million meals have been served, 750 homeless have been placed in housing and the chronic homeless has been reduced by 57%,” said James Andrews, principal of Overland Partners Architects. “The homeless have not been the only beneficiaries of having The Bridge in their community. Since its opening, the local crime rate has reduced by more than 20%.”

In addition, because of its multiple sustainable features such as its green-roofed dining room, grey water recycling system, and natural daylighting used throughout the buildings, the project was awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the largest homeless shelter in the United States to be LEED certified.  Other national and international design accolades include the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) 2009 National Housing Award, the AIA/Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Award, a 2009 National Excellence in Design Award from Environmental Design + Construction magazine and the 2009 Chicago Athenaeum’s American Architecture Award.

“The translucency of The Bridge makes it a beacon of hope,” said Siri Tiger of the Tshwane Leadership Foundation. “It demonstrates the community’s pride in how they are dealing with the problem of homelessness and has turned an often hidden function into a place of civic importance. It is a transformational paradigm shift for this project type.”

In addition to The Bridge, Overland Partners Architects designed Haven for Hope, a 37-acre, one-stop homeless assistance campus located just west of downtown San Antonio. Completed in the summer of 2010, the $60 million project includes approximately 300,000 square feet of space and 998 beds within one campus, as well as a courtyard area with the capacity to sleep 500 additional individuals. Haven for Hope will also include housing for homeless families, job training, dog kennels, medical care, detoxification and other medical and social services provided by dozens of agencies and organizations housed within the center. It is the largest and most comprehensive homeless facility in the country and is being recognized as a new national model for homeless shelters.

ABOUT THE BRIDGE HOMELESS ASSISTANCE SHELTER

“The Bridge,” meets the growing concerns of homelessness in Dallas, Texas. A safe haven and focus for services for more than 6,000 needy, it empowers chronic and newly homeless to come off the streets and sustain permanent housing in order to live productively. The Center supports guests, provides a safe and attractive work environment, and improves the surrounding community. As a beacon of hope, it provides a strong visual presence within the city and elevates the quality of public spaces. It engages the community in transforming the lives of its most disenfranchised members, proving that shelters should not be isolated, but an integrated part of our community; they are valuable civic buildings representing the compassion of our society. To learn more about The Bridge and The Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance please visit http://www.mdhadallas.org/

ABOUT OVERLAND PARTNERS

Overland Partners Architects, founded in 1985 in San Antonio, Texas, is a realization of a vision to bring together a wide range of talents in architecture and planning, in order to provide comprehensive and design services.  Sensitive to the environmental and aesthetic contexts of their projects, the firm strives for a thoughtful integration of technology, art, and craft through highly sustainable solutions.  Overland Partners Architects offers its clients the ultimate goal of creating a beautiful, functional and enduring design through a process that inspires long-term relationships and is rewarding to the entire project team.  For more information, visit www.overlandpartners.com.

ABOUT CAMARGOCOPELAND

Founded in 1985, CamargoCopeland Architects, LLP, offers architectural, interior architecture/design, and planning services. The company’s principals, Myriam E. Camargo, AIA and E.J. Copeland, AIA and its staff form an accomplished and highly skilled team with experience in corporate development, educational/public institutions, hospitality/club developments, and retail facilities. CamargoCopeland Architects is registered with the State of Texas as a Historically Underutilized Business and operates as a Minority/Woman Owned Business Enterprise. In 1999, the Dallas Business Journal recognized CamargoCopeland Architects in its annual Book of Lists as the “Largest Woman-Owned Full Service Architecture Firm in the Dallas Metroplex.” For more information, visit http://www.camargocopeland.com.

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Interviews and high-resolution images available

Media Contact: Claire Bloxom
claire@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191