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Claremont, Calif. (April 18, 2013) – Pitzer College’s Residential Life Project Phase II will receive a 2012 Excellence in Design Award in the category of Sustainable Development from the City of Claremont Architectural Commission. A reception for the winners will be held on Wednesday, April 24 at 6:15 p.m. in the City Hall lobby. The Mayor and commission chair will present the awards during the Architectural Commission meeting at 7 p.m.
Residential Life Project Phase II, completed in the summer of 2012, consists of four new mixed-use structures totaling 70,000 square feet. It houses more than 300 students, the Mosbacher/Gartrell Center for Media Experimentation and Activism, the Pitzer Archive and Conference Center, the Kallick Family Gallery and the Office of Study Abroad and International Programs. It also includes seminar rooms, multimedia editing suites, a demonstration kitchen and apartments for live-in staff and faculty.
With more than 40 sustainable features, Phase II earned LEED Platinum certification, the US Green Building Council’s highest possible endorsement, last October. Forty-eight percent of buildings on the Pitzer College campus are now LEED Gold- or Platinum-certified. In February 2013, The Los Angeles Business Journal awarded Phase II a Silver Real Estate Award for being one of the most sustainable new constructions in Los Angeles County.
In 2001, Pitzer reimagined its campus with goals to enrich its student life experience. The College, along with its students, parents, faculty and staff, committed itself to expanding students’ on-campus living experience through environmentally responsible and sustainable practices. To mirror the College’s goals and values of global sustainability, the Pitzer community actively participated in the planning of this three-phase project. Pitzer College is now able to provide housing for 85 percent of its students.
In 1980, The City of Claremont Architectural Commission established the Excellence in Design Awards Program to recognize and encourage high-quality design projects.
