The Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up! design competition challenged architects, landscape architects, engineers, and other sustainability professionals to show how green stormwater infrastructure could transform the city.
This national, interdisciplinary design competition was created by the Philadelphia Water Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Community Design Collaborative to inspire innovation in green stormwater infrastructure for Philadelphia.
Participating teams addressed the unique stormwater management challenges and opportunities at one of three sites based in Philadelphia. Each site represented a different urban context and land-use.
A total of 28 teams, 101 firms, and 315 professionals from the Philadelphia region and other cities including New York City, St. Louis, Chicago, Oakland, and Portland teamed up to enter the design competition.
Nine finalists presented their entries to the public and jury of leaders in green stormwater infrastructure on March 7, 2013 at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia. Three winners—one for each competition site—were recognized with $10,000 prizes.
The finalists and winning entries were chosen for their ability to be implemented, replicated, and cost-effective. Happily, they also offer green stormwater infrastructure solutions for Philadelphia that are engaging and beautiful.
Muscoe Martin, Principal of m2 Architecture and a member of the winning Leveraging Water + Plants team captured the spirit of the design competition best: “Stormwater is a problem. Rainwater is an opportunity.”
Congratulations to the winning teams!
WINNER Industrial—Warehouse Watershed Site
Leveraging Water + Plants in Zero Lot Sites
Roofmeadow, Philadelphia, PA Laura Hansplant Lauren Mandel Charlie Miller Jane Winkel
In Posse – A subsidiary of AKF, Philadelphia, PA Shannon Kaplan
m2 Architecture, Philadelphia, PA Muscoe Martin
Meliora Environmental Design LLC, Phoenixville, PA James Adams Michele Adams Kate Evasic Altje Hoekstra Molly Julian Joshua McFarland
SED Design, Blue Bell, PA S. Edgar David
Sere Ltd., Spring Mills, PA Stacy Levy
WINNER Commercial—Retail Retrofit
Stormwater reStore
Urban Engineers Inc., Philadelphia, PA Fiona Chau Christopher Gubeno Daniel Humes Kate Mundie David Vodila Angelo Waters
Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, New York, NY Heather Fuhrman Emily Gordon Kim Mathews Johanna Phelps
Spiezle Architectural Group, Trenton, NJ Robert Kauffmann A. Stevens Krug
WINNER Neighborhood—Greening the Grid
Meeting Green
OLIN Design Studio, Philadelphia, PA Stephen Benz Darrell Campana Ed Confair Andrew Dawson Allison Harvey Joey Hayes Jessica Henson Shawn Hilleman Jenny Jones Chris Landau R. Benjamin Lawrence Amy Magida Jennifer Martel Andrew McConnico John Mellor Ari Miller Michael Miller Nick Mitchell Henry Moll Richard Roark Lauren Schwartz Laura Stedenfeld Judy Venonsky Dana Williamson
Gilmore & Associates, New Britain, PA Christopher Green Gregory Glitzer Shiny Mathew Ronald Monkres Trevor Woodward
International Consultants Inc., Philadelphia, PA Michael Funk
MM Partners LLC, Philadelphia, PA David Waxman
Penn Praxis Andrew Goodman Harris Steinberg
SMP Architects, Philadelphia, PA David Ade Sam Emory Scott Ritchie Todd Woodward
