A major landscaping project at Urby Harrison, an apartment complex at the center of the renewal of Harrison, New Jersey, has earned a Brick Industry Association design award.
The project demonstrates the versatility of Pine Hall Brick Company’s Old Towne and Rumbled Full Range pavers. It has received the Gold Award for Paving and Landscaping in the BIA 2019 Brick in Architecture Awards.
Lots of color with Old Towne pavers and gardens.
The design and installation are a celebration of the town of Harrison, a once-thriving industrial center that is being reborn as a bedroom community for Manhattan.
Urby Harrison’s landscape design recalls that history with Rumbled clay pavers – that capture the look of reclaimed brick – in sidewalks, pathways and courtyards. Because they are new, they are consistent in size, which eases installation. At the same time, they are engineered to today’s standards for durability.
Urby Harrison sidewalk is a more colorful with Pine Hall Brick pavers.
The award honors landscape architect Mellilo+Bauer, brick manufacturer Pine Hall Brick Company, and brick distributor Church Brick Company. The project was installed by Twin Resources.
Out of more than 120 entries this year, 37 winners include Best in Class, Gold, Silver and Bronze, including projects in Australia and Canada.
Pavers and a pool – Urby Harrison is an walkable community.
BIA is celebrating 30 years as the nation’s premier design competition. The association’s awards page includes the full list of winners and a Photo Gallery.
These architects maximize brick’s virtually unlimited aesthetic freedom and its integral role in sustainable design.
– Ray Leonhard, BIA’s President, CEO and CFO.
Doug Rose, paver sales manager for Pine Hall Brick Company, said the project shows what the possibilities are when a paving material known for durability and sustainability is specified as part of a carefully considered design.
Old Towne on Urby Harrison sidewalks.
“We’re proud of the contributions that our employees, the landscape architect and our distributor made in the successful outcome of this project,” said Rose. “But we feel strongly that the real winners are the generations of residents at Urby Harrison who will be able to enjoy this project now and in the decades to come.”
About Urby Harrison
Urby Harrison is a throwback to Harrison’s glory days. During World War II, more than 90,000 people worked within a 1.3 square mile patch of industry. Many were household names. R.C.A. made the vacuum tubes that gave console radios their voice; Otis Elevators made access to New York City skyscrapers possible; and Edison Lamp Works (later to become General Electric) lit up the night.
But as time went on, the industries shut down and the businesses and the people moved out, a pattern that was repeated across the industrial Northeast in the 1960s and 1970s.
Today, Harrison is harking back to its past with billions in new investment, because investors have come to recognize that it still has what it has always had: its location.
From 1911 onward, workers used to arrive in Harrison at a train station. Today, Harrison residents can arrive in Manhattan in about 20 minutes by leaving that same platform. The proximity to New York City also led to the development of Red Bull Arena, home of the New York Red Bulls professional soccer team.
And with the arena came development of more than a half-million square feet of retail space and 7,000 units of new housing, which offers alternatives for New Yorkers used to sky-high rental rates and crowded city living.
Urby Harrison residents find open spaces, outdoor cooking and dining spaces, table and lawn games, a firepit lounge, and a pool terrace. There is also a café with an outdoor terrace, a dog park, and a spacious lawn for leisurely play or picnicking.
Extensive paver installation at Urby Harrison wins award.