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Three West Virginia University students are attempting to make the world a cleaner place and were rewarded by being named finalists in the 2009 ReCycle This Site design competition.
Calvin Owens, Kyle Stauffer and Nina Chase, all seniors in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, were three of six students chosen, out of a field of more than 200, to compete for the final prize.
The contest, sponsored by the Land-of-Sky Regional Council and the Environmental Protection Agency asked students from WVU, Virginia Tech, University of Arizona, Clemson University, North Carolina State and the Savannah College of Art and Design to design a livable space for artists and businesses in Ashville, North Carolina.
"I am proud that our program is being represented at a national level and can compete with other top programs across the country," Stauffer said.
Out of the six programs competing, the group from the Davis College were the only landscape architecture students, the rest were architecture programs.
"The fact that three out of the six were from our school, (with names and schools were kept anonymous from the judges) is pretty special," Stauffer said.
The students presented three 20 inches by 30 inches boards as well as an essay explaining the designs, and the judges were left to choose the finalists.
The site chosen for the designs is positioned on 13 acres of flood plain adjacent to the French Broad River. Complicating things more is pollution from a large leather tannery which was previously located on the site.
"The group Land & Sky, which is run by the EPA, had a grant to produce a video with what to do with land similar to the project that we are working on, Brownfields," Owens said. "They are basing their video off of that."
According to the EPA, Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment or reuse which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. Cleaning and reinvesting in these properties protects the environment, reduces blight and takes development pressures off greenspaces and working lands.
"This is going to set a template for what future developers can with land like this," Owens said.
The developer has planned to use the space for shops, galleries for artists and apartments while also keeping rent affordable. His goal is to make the land as environmentally sustainable as possible.
"All of these artists have started to move into these warehouses that used to be used for industry," Chase said. "It’s already located in this great place. The challenge is how to integrate the design into this art district, also maintaining the historic character of the site while dealing with ecological details, too."
The finalists will give presentations, which include a short video of designs March 26 to a committee of businessmen and women, local artists and architects as well as the site developer.
The winner will receive a $2,500 scholarship, featured in a Metropolis Magazine, and will take part in the EPA documentary. As far as the future for the space that they designed their project for, that will be left up to the developer.
"I would say realistically he will probably take things that he likes from each of the projects, depending on what will benefit him the most," Owens said.
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