From project to reality: Low-cost yet better schools in California

LafargeHolcim Building Better Recognition

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    LafargeHolcim Awards 2017 for North America prize handover ceremony, Chicago

    Recipients of the LafargeHolcim Building Better Recognition (l-r): Gloria Lee & Nathan Swift, SwiftLeeOffice, Los Angeles, USA.

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    LafargeHolcim Awards 2017 for North America prize handover ceremony, Chicago

    Presentation of the LafargeHolcim Building Better Recognition (l-r): Pascal Casanova, Member of the Executive Committee of LafargeHolcim responsible for North America including Mexico with recipients Gloria Lee & Nathan Swift, SwiftLeeOffice, Los Angeles, USA.

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    LafargeHolcim Awards 2017 for North America prize handover ceremony, Chicago

    Pascal Casanova (l), Member of the Executive Committee of LafargeHolcim responsible for North America including Mexico presents the LafargeHolcim Building Better Recognition to Gloria Lee & Nathan Swift, SwiftLeeOffice, Los Angeles, USA.

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    LafargeHolcim Awards 2017 for North America prize handover ceremony, Chicago

    Gloria Lee of SwiftLeeOffice (SLO), Los Angeles, introduces the work of SLO including the new school building prototype for the Los Angeles Unified School District to replace several inadequate temporary structures. The project won the LafargeHolcim Awards Silver North America in 2011 and the LafargeHolcim Building Better Recognition for standing the test of time as a particularly successful example of sustainable building.

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    Project update March 2017 - Zero net energy school building, Los Angeles, USA

    The project's two buildings are a 2,600m2 K-5 building with media library and cafeteria, and 2,000m2 building with classrooms for grades 6-8 and gymnasium.

This is the fifth time the LafargeHolcim Awards competition is being conducted. Over the years, more than 200 projects have been awarded worldwide. More than half the winning projects have been built or are scheduled for completion soon. Thus, the LafargeHolcim Awards are not about “castles in the air” but about tangible measures that advance the science of construction. This aspect of tangible change is underscored by a prize that’s being awarded for the first time in 2017: the LafargeHolcim Building Better Recognition. It is awarded for a winning project from a previous competition cycle, one which has been realized and has stood the test of time as a particularly successful example of sustainable building.

Last updated: October 12, 2017 Chicago, USA

This is the fifth time the LafargeHolcim Awards competition is being conducted. Over the years, more than 200 projects have been awarded worldwide. More than half the winning projects have been built or are scheduled for completion soon. Thus, the LafargeHolcim Awards are not about “castles in the air” but about tangible measures that advance the science of construction. This aspect of tangible change is underscored by a prize that’s being awarded for the first time in 2017: the LafargeHolcim Building Better Recognition. It is awarded for a winning project from a previous competition cycle, one which has been realized and has stood the test of time as a particularly successful example of sustainable building.

In North America, this prize went to Gloria Lee and Nathan Swift of SwiftLeeOffice in Pasadena, CA, USA. The two architects designed a new school building prototype for the Los Angeles Unified School District to replace several inadequate temporary structures. The project won the LafargeHolcim Awards Silver North America in 2011. Boasting excellent energy efficiency, the design has so far been implemented in three locations with great success.