Rudy Bruner Award Collection

Title

Via Verde

Description

2013 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence - Silver Medal

Via Verde—the “Green Way”—is a 222-unit affordable, sustainable, and replicable low-income housing development in the South Bronx, New York. The project, completed in 2012, grew out of two international design competitions that were part of the New Housing New York Legacy Project to create a new standard for affordable, green housing design.

The winning design redeveloped a difficult parcel of land—a 60,000-square-foot triangular brownfield site—and created a 40,000-square-foot series of open green spaces on rooftops and terraces connecting three linked structures that rise from two to 20 stories and wrap around a central, landscaped courtyard. These open green spaces incorporate a grove of evergreen trees, an apple orchard, and vegetable gardens and encourage physical activity and community to support the mental and physical health of residents. About a third of the units in the complex are co-ops, while the remainder are rentals, and 7,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space houses a medical center and pharmacy.

The $98.9 million project, with cascading roof gardens and a distinctive facade, stands out among the brick buildings and towers in the neighborhood and serves as a creative model for affordable and sustainable design. The LEED Gold certified project includes photovoltaic solar panels on the rooftops and south-facing facades. Residential units have large windows, ceiling fans, and multiple exposures for cross ventilation, and the green rooftops are watered with captured roof run-off. Via Verde offers a new, comprehensive approach to inner city housing and is an inner-city sanctuary for its residents.

Coverage

New York, NY

Date

2012

Subject

low-income housing

mixed-income housing

cooperative housing

sustainability

mixed-use developments

brownfield remediation

public-private sector cooperation

public health

Rights

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