A Net Zero Development and More Star in AIA|DC’s New Exhibition

• July 29, 2014

by Lark Turner

An exhibition from AIA|DC that’s on display starting Tuesday includes a number of developments designed for DC or by DC architects. The Washington UNBUILT exhibition features the winners of AIA|DC’s 2014 UNBUILT awards, and is located at the organization’s downtown District Architecture Center. Though the award-winners were announced this spring, their projects are only now being displayed. The award “recognizes excellence in both theoretical and commissioned architectural projects” — basically, anything that hasn’t been built yet.

You can check out all the projects until September 13. Here are a few of our local favorites:

A Brand-New Franklin School

Designer: Perkins+Will

One of the coolest aspects of this proposal for a redesigned Franklin School is its glassy addition. The design for the school “proposes the complete restoration of this historic gem and a glass enclosed winter garden, which provides an accessible entrance into the building as well as a year-round green space covered by an undulating canopy that supports green roof vegetation.”

A Net Zero Development

Designer: Torti Gallas and Partners and The Spinnaker Group

This project, called “Growing from Zero,” was designed by local architects Torti Gallas and Partners and The Spinnaker Group as a residential development for San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Growing from Zero would achieve a net-zero impact on the environment using solar panels and a solar thermal system. The development takes sustainability a bit further, too; it incorporates flexible housing, with units that can be combined to accommodate a growing family. It also has a built-in hydroponic farming system.

A Theater in Alexandria

Designer: Abi Kallushi

Kallushi’s plan for a “Shadow Theatre,” designed around an empty parking lot on King Street in Alexandria, is, she says in a project description, all about the building’s framing. “This is a celebration of frames and how they can become a threshold between the reality of a built structure and the imaginary possibilities of architecture.”

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a_net_zero_development_and_more_star_in_aiadcs_new_exhibition/8797