Team's green vision wins competition for affordable housing.

A team comprised of The Phipps Houses, Dattner Architects. Jonathan Rose Companies and Grimshaw, the PRDG team, has won the city's first juried design competition for affordable and sustainable housing.

Dubbed the "Green Way" or "Via Verde", the project will consist of 202 residential units, in addition to retail and community spaces, and parking to be build on an abandoned 60,000 s/ f city-owned lot in the South Bronx.

"We are pleased and honored to have been selected by the New Housing New York jury to work with HPD to help develop a next generation of housing that is affordable and green," said a spokesman for the PRDG team.

"We are inspired by a great vision to create places that are environmentally and socially responsible, but to do it within the constraints of affordable housing budgets and important community input. One of the great pleasures of this competition was combining so much great thought from knowledgeable individuals, yet coming together as a team: we became a community so that we could design a community."

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Shaun Donovan and Mark Ginsberg, FAIA, 2004 president of New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIANY), announced Phipps-Rose-Dattner-Grimshaw (PRDG) as the winning architect-developer team for the competition known as the New Housing New York (NHNY) Legacy Project.

The project emerged from a collaboration between the NHNY Steering Committee, HPD, and AIANY, and was sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Enterprise, Citibank and AIA 150 Blueprint to encourage the integration of sustainability and design excellence with affordable housing.

The competition site was a 60,000 s/f vacant lot that consists of City-owned property and a legally abandoned rail right-of-way.

The City will sell the site to PRDG for a nominal fee in exchange for the design and construction of a mixed-use development that includes affordable housing for New Yorkers of lowmiddle-, and moderate-incomes.

An exhibition of the five finalists' proposals will be on view March 22--June 16, 2007 at the Center for Architecture.

The exhibition will highlight how the project functions as a replicable model for sustainable affordable housing in New York City and other urban communities.

PRDG's Via Verde will consist of 202 residential units varying from apartments in a tower to duplexes in a mid-rise to townhouses.

The development is organized around a multi-functional garden that begins at street-level as a courtyard and plaza, and spirals upward through a series of programmed, south-facing roof gardens that end in a sky terrace. The gardens will be used for fruit and vegetable cultivation, passive recreation and social gathering, and provide storm water control and enhanced insulation.

Phipps Community Development Corporation (CDC) plans to expand its green market in East Tremont and community-supported agriculture collaboration with Just Food and will use Via Verde's plaza for a neighborhood green market or organic food co-op.

HPD Commissioner Shaun Donovan commented, "We believe this unprecedented competition will raise the level of design sustainability and serve as a beacon for affordable housing across the city. Given the incredible response the competition received, and the innovative proposals the jury reviewed, the competition presents a real opportunity to change the future of affordable housing,.

"We hope that PRDG's proposal will serve as a prototype for future affordable housing developments built nationally and internationally."

Joan Blumenfeld, FAIA, IIDA, 2007 president of the AIA New York Chapter said, "New Housing New York is a remarkable collaboration between architects, government, and the private sector. It is exactly the kind of initiative that illustrates how we, as design professionals, can have a positive and concrete impact on the future of our city.

"Hopefully, the process we have developed through this project will impact planning and construction beyond its realization and help us rethink how we can design sustainable affordable housing throughout New York."

By incorporating sustainable material choices, efficient mechanical systems and renewable strategies, Via Verde will aim to achieve gold-level-LEED accreditation. Mechanical systems will include enhanced ventilation to apartments and individual control of heating and cooling. Sun screens will shade the south and west facades and each unit will include high performance windows. These energy efficient features will reduce utility bills for tenants, increasing affordability, and help improve indoor air quality.

The NHNY competition was first announced at the Center for Architecture in June 2006. 32 teams submitted qualifications to the design jury, which consisted of prestigious architects, housing experts and community officials.