Design AIDD Architects has won ICF Building Magazine's highest honors for the Wakefield Apartments at 812 East 231st St., a three-story 15-unit affordable housing rental. The New York-based architecture firm received the "Best in Class" Multi-Family Award for incorporating a revolutionary technique that uses Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) in lieu of conventional materials. The project was part of NYSERDA's Multi Family Performance Program and exceeded the energy code requirements by more than 20%.
"This award affirms our confidence in the ICF system as the wave of the future," said Design AIDD principal Andrea Harris, AIA, LEED AP BC+C. "The use of this construction technology produced an energy-efficient and cost-effective multifamily development that significantly reduces the carbon footprint in this building. We are very pleased with the success of the project and honored to be acknowledged by the industry."
Wakefield Apartments is one of the first multifamily projects in the Bronx to be built entirely with the ICF system manufactured by Nudura, which consists of pre-manufactured rigid insulation panels on both sides of a poured-in-place concrete wall. Acting as formwork for the concrete system, the panels reduce labor costs, provide faster erection of exterior walls and create a tighter envelope with greater insulation, waterproofing and energy efficiency. The use of concrete as a construction material provided the unique opportunity to design full corner windows, resulting in apartments with substantially more daylight, desirable views and spacious living rooms.
As an additional energy-efficiency measure, Design AIDD placed the mechanical room on the roof to allow the boilers to function more efficiently by eliminating flue penetrations through the building floors and providing greater flexibility to accommodate amenities, such as accessory recreation rooms.
With a cost savings accrued through the architects' designs, the developer was able to upgrade the interior finishes and materials in each unit, adding maple hardwood floors, porcelain and glass-tiled kitchens and bathrooms and cherry wood kitchen cabins. In addition to a design aesthetic, the apartment layouts maximize cross-ventilation through multiple exposures, bolstered by double-sided corner windows at the perimeters of all the living rooms.
The developer and owner of the building is Lemle & Wolff, Inc., the general contractor was Apartment Rehab Corp. and the engineer was Antonucci & Associates. Mikhail Yusim of Lemle & Wolff was the project manager.
Established in 2007, Design AIDD is a full-service architectural firm specializing in new construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing, sustainable housing and mixed-use projects, zoning and building code consultation and violation removal throughout New York and New Jersey. Tags: