 Croxton Collaborative Architects has originated and developed many of the practices associated with sustainable and human-centered architecture and design. Headquarters projects for many of the leading environmental organizations in America have been completed by Croxton Collaborative, among them: National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council and US Environmental Protection Agency. All of which have resulted in an interaction between built and natural systems and reconnecting people to nature.
Croxton Collaborative's research into the nature of materials, levels of toxicity and high quality, benign alternatives is original and second to none. As they put it, "Massive reductions in global warming and acid rain impacts, enhancements of biodiversity, and restorations of habitat characterize the full range of Croxton Collaborative's work. Including new buildings and renovations, all of the work in the office is undertaken with sustainable and human centered intentions. This is a process in which the firm prides itself to have redefined the term ‘design excellence'." The firm produces architecture as both art and science.
The architectural profession has awarded Croxton Collaborative the highest award for design excellence, the American Institute of Architect's (AIA) National Honor Award. Croxton Collaborative is a proud recipient of the Green Project Award from AIA. In 2007, the project that won such an award was the Willingboro Master Plan and Public Library. As the first building to be constructed in an abandoned area with ground contamination and a history of crime, the library needed to be the visible new face of the new development plan for the site. A dramatic entry provides well-lit and safe pedestrian access. Good signage is also visible from the road to give a sense of entry in the library.
The library uses the structural steel frame and concrete foundations of the original building, a Woolworth's store. Daylighting is the library's defining strategy; the building incorporates multiple strategically placed windows and major skylights to take advantage of the sun's position throughout the day. The clerestories, rooftop windows, which run along the north-south axis, cross with existing structural beams, achieving 95 percent diffuse light with transitory dappled light effects to please the eye and light up the spaces within the building.
Although the library was built at market rate, the project team relied on energy modeling and whole-system integration to improve the building's energy efficiency. The building was projected to have a 57 percent reduction in peak electrical demand, a 44 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and a 46 percent reduction in energy costs-compared with a comparable, conventional building, creating an anticipated 5.5-year payback period. This is astounding compared with similar buildings without sustainable design. EnviroCitizen.org is inspired by firms such as Croxton Collaborative Architects and hopes that others are as well.
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