University of Cambridge School of Architecture and internationally renowned award-winning architect will discuss high performance masonry buildings in climates around the world.
ROCKVILLE, MD—November 9, 2010—Attendees at this year’s BrickStainable Design Competition Awards Ceremony will be treated to a presentation by Cambridge University’s Alan Short. The ceremony will be held at the National Building Museum on March 31, 2011.
Short is the principal of Short & Associates, chartered architects, and professor of architecture at Cambridge University. He designs research level sustainable public buildings for a wide variety of activities in the United Kingdom and abroad.
Recently, his firm designed the downdraft-cooled School of Slavonic and East European Studies in Bloomsbury, the mixed mode Judson College Academic Centre in Chicago, the innovative Queens Building, De Montfort University in Leicester as well as his first building in Beijing which is currently underway. Short & Associates is extremely interested in extending its fundamental green design approach to creating sustainable buildings for healthcare facilities. The firm publishes all of its research and the design and construction process from start to finish for each building.
Short, a big proponent of “heavy construction”, will present a series of brick masonry buildings from different climates and describe how they were designed to stay comfortable despite temperature fluctuations using much less energy than expected.
“We are thrilled to have Professor Short join us in Washington, DC to celebrate this international competition,” says Alan Richardson, Potomac Valley Brick president and creator of BrickStainable. “His presentation will be a fascinating look at the environmental design strategies behind low energy masonry buildings.”
To date, BrickStainable has received registrations from 50 countries. Held in pursuit of design solutions that exploit the unique properties of clay masonry construction, it seeks new ideas in the development of this age old building material. BrickStainable is divided into two categories: Integrated Building Design which seeks integrative design solutions that exploit the thermal qualities of masonry construction to create a passively heated and cooled urban building with a target of net zero energy, and Technical Design which calls for entrants to design a single element of a building that provides a sustainable solution to real-world environmental challenges.
“Brick masonry is an important part of the strategy to create stable conditions while reducing energy consumption,” says Short. “The idea of BrickStainable is fantastic and I’m looking forward to being a part of the awards ceremony.”
After Short’s presentation, Potomac Valley Brick will award a $10,000 grand prize and $7,500 grand prize in the Integrated Building Design and Technical Design categories, respectively. Up to three honorable mention winners in each category will be awarded $2,000 per team.
Awards Ceremony ticket information is available at www.BrickStainable.com.
About BrickStainable
BrickStainable is a design competition seeking integrative design solutions that promote the use of clay brick to achieve sustainability goals. The competition explores the potential of brick construction in the creation of energy efficient building and challenges designers to maximize the physical characteristics of brick. The competition was created by Potomac Valley Brick in 2009. It is sponsored by Belden, Boral, Carolina Ceramics, Cloud Ceramics, Essroc Italcementi Group, Genco Masonry, Hanson, Hohmann and Barnard, Hyload, KaRon Masonry, Lehigh, The Masonry Institute of Maryland, Merritt Construction Services, Mortar Net, Owens-Corning, Pavestone, Palmetto Brick Company, Redland Brick, Triangle Brick, and York Building Products. More information is available at www.BrickStainable.com and on Twitter @pvbrick.
