The Dryline Project wins Bronze at LafargeHolcim Awards

The Dryline Project has won the global Bronze prize at the LafargeHolcim Awards, the most significant international competition for sustainable design and construction.

Following Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the project, originally titled The Big U, was developed as a protective system around the low lying topography of Manhattan, acting as a continuous line of protection that was broken into three compartments shaped by the communities it was protecting. It was one of 6 proposals chosen by the US Department of Housing & Urban Development to address the vulnerabilities exposed by Hurricane Sandy.

Yolanda Kakabadse, President of WWF International and member of the Global Awards Jury 2015, praised the project's sensitive blend of hard flood protection infrastructure and solutions for community needs that foster local commercial, recreational, and cultural activities. "The jury had a difficult task with many high quality submissions, but could clearly see The Dryline's potential as a model to be applied in susceptible regions around the globe, especially in regions with limited economic resources," she said.

Alain Bourguignon, Executive Committee member of LafargeHolcim responsible for North America, noted that the Awards were an integral part of the company's commitment to sustainable development. "LafargeHolcim wants to remain the most CO₂ efficient international cement producer. Furthermore, we want to leverage our position as the world leader in the building materials industry to support sustainable construction beyond our production plants and distribution chains. Through the international Awards for Sustainable Construction we aim to advocate solutions that incorporate architectural excellence and enhanced quality of life," he said.

The Gold Prize was awarded to a project for a public park in Medellín, Columbia that creates urban spaces around a series of water tanks to form a ‘socio-technical’ landscape. A community library project in the rural town of Ambepussa that recycles building materials and aims to reintegrate soldiers in post-war Sri-Lankan society won the Silver prize.

Adapted from press release by Rebecca Bowden

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/07102015/the-dryline-project-wins-bronze-award-at-lafargeholcim-awards-733/