Elevator B (or Hive City) at Silo City is getting a lot of attention as of late. According to Courtney Creenan, a graduate of University at Buffalo’s Department of Architecture and Planning, “Elevator B was presented at this past week’s Buffalo Architecture Foundation’s 6Mbs and the University at Buffalo’s Beyond Patronage Symposium. It’s also in contention for the Buffalo Architecture Foundation’s Pro Bono Publico award.” Courtney was one of the team members who helped to design and construct Elevator B at Silo City – a project that captured the imagination of Buffalonians who rallied around a rebirth of the industrial site this past summer (learn about the project).
To sweeten the pot, the Hive City project has also been entered into an international competition known as the ISARCH Awards, and is going head to head with 100 other architectural and design projects from around the world. The competition is based on both public interest in the individual projects, as well as juried votes. ISARCH is geared toward offering students a platform where they can showcase their solution-based projects, as they pertain to their university studies.
The team that created Hive City, not only set out to find a new home for a massive bee colony that was being displaced at Silo City, they set out to create a nearly identical habitat where the colony would thrive. Take a look at the recent photo taken by Courtney, and you can see that the bees have been busy rebuilding the hive. From the beginning, there was no guarantee that the project was going to be successful. Fortunately, the students managed to create a new home that suited the queen, and the rest is now golden history.
Now it’s our turn to help the team that created Hive City. Consider voting for this project at ISARCH Awards – it’s as easy as clicking on the Facebook button found on the project’s dedicated page.