New Westside Branch of USGBC-LA Announces August 25th Launch Event for Design Competition

The New Westside Branch of USGBC-LA will hold a launch event on Wednesday, August 25th at KI Furniture in Santa Monica. The “Pacific Estuary Institute, Est. 2030” Design Competition strives to advance the conversation on green building, with special emphasis on water.

The launch event will be held on Wednesday, August 25th from 6:00-8:00pm at the KI Showroom (1903 Olympic Bl., Santa Monica at the NE corner of 19th St. and Olympic Bl.).

The Westside Branch is developing programs that add technical and intellectual depth to the green building and sustainable design process.  Water is central to the history of the Los Angeles urban region, and in recent years has become a recurring theme of public concern as acquisition, scarcity, habitat loss and pollution have evolved into major problems in both economic and ecological terms.  In response tothis, the Westside Branch has set out to stimulate conversation on waterresource issues - with the competition acting as springboard for innovative design approaches and intervention.

Teams are invited to design a campus for the year 2030 that will be a Center for research, public environmental education, as well as the restoration of the Ballona Creek Estuary Area. The 2030 timeline allows for changing population and environmental factors and societal values to influence the trajectory of environmental design. The future Estuary Institute campus must accommodate residential facilities for up to 200 visiting students and 40 Fellows, plus lab/lecture space.  The design must also offer habitat for rare endemic species, and ensure the area remains a functioning wetland and salt-marsh, providing a net cleansing of the water now flowing by the site in the channel.

Competition teams are encouraged to represent professional diversity – e.g. architects, engineers, planners, ecologists and biologists, conservationists, etc. The requirements are to break the mold – the goal is to inspire thought and provoke discourse.  The competition will be judged on the concept and creativity of the Master Plan, the ability of the intervention to deliver treated water to Santa Monica Bay, as well as conceptual designs for both laboratory space and a unit within a multi-unit campus residential building.

The deadline for team registration for the competition is midnight, October 20,2010.  Registered teams will be able to submit their designs through November 22, 2010.  An Awards Party recognizing the top contestants will be held December 8, 2010.

For additional information on the competition, please visit the USGBC-LA Westside branch website.