Chicago, IL: The Chicago Lakeside Development—a joint venture between McCaffery Interests and U.S. Steel Corporation—has won the first Sustainia Community Award. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the award—entirely decided by the public via Sustainia’s large social media network—on Oct. 11 during a ceremony at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen.
The inaugural Sustainia Community Award “honors the best sustainable solution,” according to the global alliance. The Lakeside team was represented at the ceremony by McCaffery Interests President Ed Woodbury and Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) Director of Urban Design & Planning Douglas Voigt. “As designers and planners, we’re proud of our key role in creating Chicago Lakeside,” Voigt says. “This inaugural Sustainia Community Award recognizes the vision and leadership of McCaffery Interests and U.S. Steel, as well as the support of the Mayor and City of Chicago.”
The Sustainia initiative is spearheaded by Gov. Schwarzenegger and founded by leading international companies and Scandinavia’s prominent independent think tank, Monday Morning, to raise awareness of the many tangible, sustainable solutions available across the globe.
“Chicago Lakeside is a transformative model for U.S. city planning and could upend the traditional thinking of how people live and work in Chicago and across the U.S.,” Sustainia writes in its citation. “The solutions utilized in Chicago Lakeside have strong site-specific characteristics, but the DNA’ of the solutions is fully transferable to other cities.”
Chicago Mayor Emanuel has long supported McCaffery Interests and Chicago Lakeside Development, saying: “ a sustainable, multi-use community on the southeast lakefront of Chicago will provide huge economic impact in the area, creating important jobs and opportunity on the South Side. I commend all involved in the Lakeside project for their long-term commitment to this effort and the growth of Chicago.”
“Lakeside presents a unique opportunity to create a thriving 21st century community for the neighborhood in which it sits, Chicago and indeed the world,” remarked McCaffery Interests’ Chairman and CEO Daniel McCaffery. “Lakeside will not only redevelop and re-purpose a former steel mill but it will also rebuild the entire southeast lakefront and offer a new way for people to live, work, shop and play.”
“We’re creating an intelligent district energy network using the most advanced clean energy technologies that will set examples for how to best live and work within a vibrant walkable community that connects seamlessly to the Chicago’s South Side,” says Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Urban Design and Planning Partner Phillip Enquist.
About Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) is one of the leading architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban-planning firms in the world, with a 75-year reputation for design excellence and a portfolio that includes some of the most important architectural accomplishments of the 20th and 21st centuries. Since its inception, SOM has been a leader in the research and development of specialized technologies, new processes and innovative ideas, many of which have had a palpable and lasting impact on the design profession and the physical environment. The firm’s longstanding leadership in design and building technology has been honored with more than 1,500 awards for quality, innovation, and management. The American Institute of Architects has recognized SOM twice with its highest honor, the Architecture Firm Award—in 1962 and again in 1996. The firm maintains offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai and Abu Dhabi.