Portland, Ore. — Portland-based TVA Architects Inc. has received an Honor Award for Sustainability/Adaptive Reuse for its design of the Social Security Administration Teleservice Center project in Auburn, Wash., as announced at the GSA Design Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

“We’re thrilled with this recognition,” stated Robert L. Thompson, FAIA, TVA Architects’ founder and design principal. “This project not only sends a powerful message to the nation’s taxpayers by bringing new life to aging government buildings, but it embodies the values of our firm. It is a testament that good design does not have to be sacrificed to achieve sustainability.”

TVA was selected as the lead architect on the federal project through a national competition held in 2003. As part of the GSA’s “Design Excellence Program,” the project became an exercise in reclaiming and recycling a minimally used federal asset—a 1940s-era military warehouse—and converting it into a 120,000 square foot contemporary office space. (see ED+C web + digital exclusive: a study in adaptive reuse, http://www.edcmag.com/CDA/Archives/7e1c9a20ad65e010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0)

Sustainable features include preserving over 75 percent of the original structure, recycling over 80 percent of demolition and construction debris, implementation of a raised access floor and efficient underfloor air distribution system, abundant daylighting and energy-saving lighting controls, indoor air quality measures, 30 percent water-use reduction, 10 percent recycled content of building materials, a landscaped bio-swale/security buffer that treats and infiltrates 98 percent of surface stormwater runoff, and a percolation trench that treats and infiltrates 100 percent of roof stormwater.

In addition to the GSA Design Award, the project recently received a 2007 GSA Environmental Award for Sustainable Design/Green Buildings, and had previously received a Public Buildings Service Reclaim Award for capital projects exhibiting excellence in construction and demolition waste management. Formally dedicated in August 2006, the facility is on track for LEED Silver certification, and is slated to become a national model for future adaptive reuse projects. For more information, visit www.tvaarchitects.com.