The Broad Museum received top honors last Thursday at the 46th Annual Los Angeles Architectural Awards, hosted by the Los Angeles Business Council (LABC). The Broad, along with the 35 other architectural and design awardees, set new standards of design excellence, innovation and sustainability, and demonstrate the potential of combining beautiful architecture with environmental and health best practices. More than 500 leading design and building professionals, along with top city officials, attended the event, held at the Beverly Hilton.
“The winners of this year’s Architectural Awards demonstrate how exceptional architectural designs can inspire our community and invigorate our city while also addressing critical policy needs,” said Mary Leslie, President of the Los Angeles Business Council. “This year designers rose to the challenge to design more eco-conscious and efficient features, and generally improve the way people live through architecture. We are proud to honor this diverse group of excellent projects today, and celebrate the future of sustainable development and economic growth in Los Angeles.”
This year’s Chairman’s Award, presented by LABC Chair Nadine Watt, went to three L.A.-area buildings – CBRE, the Bloc, and the Haworth Showroom – that are early-adopters of the WELL Building Standard, the world’s first building standard focused on human health and wellness. WELL marries best practices in design and construction with medical and scientific research to improve the nutrition, fitness, mood, sleep patterns and performance of its building occupants.
More than 200 projects competing in categories ranging from education and healthcare to housing and commercial office space vied for this year’s Architectural Awards. Juries representing a cross section of industry experts selected the winners, recognizing the entire team of architects, contractors, project managers and developers who collaborated to create and build the visionary project.
“The Architectural Awards are about much more than beautiful design,” said Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin, who helped honor the luncheon’s design jury. “Today’s awards reflect how design innovation can have a meaningful impact on the lives of Angelenos and help lead our city to a more sustainable, productive future.”
For the second consecutive year, the LABC partnered with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to recognize outstanding drought-tolerant landscape projects. The LADWP Community Impact Award featured five winners – four residential and one commercial project – who have utilized LADWP’s California Friendly Landscape Incentive Program to create drought-resilient, high-quality design. The program has now accounted for 46,063,830 square feet of turf removal for a savings of over 1.7 billion gallons of water per year, helping to meet Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s goal of voluntarily reducing water usage by 20%.
“It’s no coincidence the industry’s best practices in water-conserving architecture are flourishing in Los Angeles,” said Councilmember Paul Koretz, who presented the Community Impact Award. “As we move into a ‘new normal’ future with an uncertain water supply, the honorees in this category are finding innovative water-saving solutions to help achieve and surpass the city’s aggressive conservation goals.”
The Julius Shulman Emerging Talent Award and scholarship was presented to the Woodbury University team for developing a winning program to repurpose the Los Angeles City Mall in the Civic Center. Six participating schools competed to redesign the site with additional City office space and community amenities.
The second annual Los Angeles and Mexico City Sustainable Real Estate Award was presented to Artha Capital and the Grand Hyatt Playa Del Carmen as part of LABC’s partnership with ADI, Mexico’s largest real estate developer’s association. Maria Jose Fernandez, CEO of ADI, accepting the award on behalf of Artha Capital and the Grand Hyatt Playa Del Carmen announced an investment of 21 billion dollars in real estate projects in all types of projects: housing, office buildings, retail, industrial and mixed use.
In addition to the premier awards, more than 30 design projects in communities from every corner of L.A. County were honored. The design winners, located in pockets of the county from the South Bay to the San Gabriel Mountains, reflect a diverse array of industries including new or upgraded medical facilities, museums, a public library, commercial offices, housing and more.
Beijing-born architect Ma Yansong, who is regarded as an important leader in the new generation of architects, delivered the keynote address. Yansong, founder of MAD architects, is known for cultivating a sense of community and nature through architecture.
The event was co-chaired by Robert Jernigan, Regional Managing Principal of Gensler, and Nadine Watt, LABC Chair and President of Watt Companies. For pictures of the winning projects, please visit the Los Angeles Business Council website at www.labusinesscouncil.org.
About the Los Angeles Business Council
The Los Angeles Business Council is one of the most effective and influential advocacy and educational organizations in California. For over 70 years, the LABC has had a major impact on public policy by harnessing the power of business and government to promote environmental and economic sustainability in the Los Angeles region. To learn more, please visit www.labusinesscouncil.org.
