
Best Concept Home was one of the most exciting award categories recognized by the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) at their 10th annual National Green Building Conference. Best Concept Home? Isn’t green building a concept unto itself? Not if it becomes the standard!
The green home builder to receive the best concept award was the Maryland-based firm Torti Gallas and Partners, who also holds offices in Los Angeles and an international division in Istanbul, Turkey. One point of interest about Torti Gallas is versatility; the company builds a variety of structures, including commercial, military, government, college campus housing, and city skyscrapers.
Fortunately, they also excel in developing new green homes for sale – single family dwellings that are beautiful, functional, and sustainable. So what’s the concept? Many of their projects are revitalized neighborhoods – areas that were strategically refurbished by the firm’s master builders. One of their most notable green home projects include the redevelopment of the Martin Luther King Plaza and its surrounding neighborhood, a revitalization that earned the company a Builder’s Choice Award in 2007.
A project that reflects a more common residential effort is the revitalization plan for the Ponce De Leon and College Hill Homes neighborhoods in Tampa, Florida. Torti Gallas and Partners transformed the gated barracks-style public housing development into a vibrant, new mixed-income residential neighborhood consistent with Florida's best traditional communities. The master plan knits the streets and newly built homes into the surrounding traditional neighborhoods, and capitalizes on the sites greatest natural amenities, such as beautiful, large live oaks.
Congratulations to Torti Gallas and Partners on these successful endeavors!