DENVER – RiNo-based OZ Architecture has been recognized by Fast Company — a progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, and design — as a finalist in its annual Innovation by Design Awards for 2018, in the Spaces, Places and Cities category for its design and master plan of the new McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
Innovation by Design is the only competition to honor creative work at the intersection of design, business, and innovation. The awards, which can be found in the October 2018 issue of Fast Company, on stands September 18th, recognize people, teams, and companies solving problems through design. Fast Company is honoring an influential and diverse group of leaders in fashion, architecture, graphic design and data visualization, social good, user experience, and more.
“McMurdo Station – a 58-year-old research center in Antarctica – is finally receiving a master plan and design facilities that will significantly improve the livability, efficiency and sustainability of this entire Antarctica-based community becoming an icon of American leadership in science, architecture and engineering,” said Rick Petersen, principal at OZ Architecture.
Never intended to be a permanent settlement, McMurdo Station has grown into a disparate outpost of more than 100 inefficient structures over 164 acres, with no central planning. Today, the approximate 1,000 summer workers and 250 year-round residents at McMurdo must battle the harsh Antarctic elements for simple tasks such as walking from one building to the next for a meal, visiting a science lab, or transporting goods from a warehouse. This not only leads to difficult and time-consuming experiences for staff, but also results in heat energy loss and increased carbon emissions. What’s more, the station lacks many features critical to the workers’ ongoing health and wellness.
The new plan will consolidate more than 100 buildings into 18, providing the community with unprecedented efficiencies. A new 300,000-square-foot campus will emphasize a higher quality of life for its residents, promote environmental stewardship, add progressive technology and dramatically improve logistics and energy efficiency for the important work being done at McMurdo.
Winners will also be recognized at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival at a special celebration on October 23, 2018.
Rendering courtesy of OZ Architecture
