Brock Environmental Center
For its new Brock Environmental Center, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) envisioned transcending LEED, achieving zero-net-CO2 emissions and zero waste leaving the site—a new and significant paradigm for sustainability. To design the Center, CBF engaged SmithGroup, building on a long-standing relationship.
Client
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Location
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Markets/Services
Architecture, Commercial Office Buildings, Cultural, MEP Engineering, Programming, Public & Civic, Sustainable Design, Visitor & Interpretive Centers, Waterfront, Workplace
Size
13,400 SF
Featured Awards
American Institute of Architects -- Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten 'Plus' Award, 2017
LEED-NC-Platinum
IA Committee on the Environment (COTE), COTE Top Ten, 2017
High Performance Building & Community Award, Sustainable Buildings Industry Council/Beyond Green, 2016
Sustainability Initiative of the Year, Building Intelligence Group, 2016
Award of Excellence Mechanical Systems Design, ASCE Architectural Engineering Institute, 2016
Award of Merit Architectural Engineering Integration, ASCE Architectural Engineering Institute, 2016
Award of Excellence - Commercial Architecture, AIA Northern Virginia, 2016
Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, 2015
Best Green Project, ENR Mid-Atlantic, 2015
Our vision quite simply is to create one of the most environmentally sustainable buildings in the world at Pleasure House Point.
Christy Everett
CBF Hampton Roads Director
To forge a shared vision for the 118-acre site, the last large undeveloped parcel at Pleasure House Point, monthly stakeholder meetings drew important input from community partners and the City of Virginia Beach. Housing offices for CBF and partner groups, the center also features an 80-seat conference room, meeting rooms, and exhibit display areas.
Site development, focused on preservation of the local ecology, includes a boat pier with floating dock, a 250-foot kayak pier, and an open-air education pavilion.
There are hardly any buildings in the world that are zero carbon, zero waste, zero water, I mean, that is exceptional, that has to be acknowledged. It is a fine tuned building.
Chris Castle
JUROR Managing Director, EPR Architects
A collaborative approach to planning at the project's onset forged a close relationship with the City's regulatory agencies, helping them to adopt sustainability strategies such as permeable paving and on-site waste treatment. In 2016, the Brock Center achieved Living Building Challenge certification from the International Living Future Institute.
CBF is committed to showcasing the new the Center's sustainable attributes, it publishes its daily usage on a Building Dashboard.
