Two multi-use plans to preserve and redevelop the iconic Home Security Life Insurance Building and site into an economically-diverse residential, commercial, and community hub were selected as the winning entries in an annual design competition among young architects from offices of the global architecture and design firm Perkins&Will. Jurors reviewed 64 design submissions, and selected the winning entries from a group of 11 finalists.
“Porch,” a design created by a Durham-based team, and “Incremental,” created by a Chicago-based team, tied for first-place honors.
Three Merit Awards were given:
CoLive, CoWork, created by a Chicago-based team
Square Hub, created by a Dubai-based team
Tobacco-Op, created by a Washington, D.C.-based team
To view all the submissions and learn more about the design challenge, please visit: dlc.perkinswill.com.
The 4.4-acre site, located on West Chapel Hill Street and currently serving as Durham Police Headquarters, is the last large and available development site within easy walking distance of the downtown business district and the Durham Transportation Center. The 1959 Home Security Life Building anchoring the site was designed by modernist architect Milton Small. Preservation Durham, the nonprofit advocate for reinvestment in legacy sites and historic buildings, added the building to its Places in Peril list in 2014.
Now in its 15th year, the Perkins&Will competition is sponsored by the firm’s Design Leadership Council (DLC) as a key program to encourage young architects at the firm to address challenging issues with provocative designs. In this year’s program, “Excess in the City: The Challenges of Prosperity,” Perkins&Will asked its emerging designers to imagine new possibilities for the Home Security Life Insurance Building. The competition is produced by the firm’s Design Leadership Council, which is comprised of design directors and principals from each office.
The design competition was hosted by the Durham, N.C. studio of Perkins+Will, which is adjacent to the Home Security Life Insurance Company site. According to Phil Freelon, Director of Design for the firm’s North Carolina Practice, “The purpose of the competition is to create a vehicle for ideas, promote a culture of design, and enhance the firm’s legacy of innovation, inventiveness and research. This is our way of offering creative ideas and fresh thinking for urban spaces.”