LITTLE ROCK, ARK.—The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau (LRCVB) announced that the Robinson Center’s renovation, restoration and expansion has exceeded original expectations to be LEED certified, and has achieved a LEED Gold rating. A press conference announcing this achievement was held last week.
“We are very excited to achieve LEED Gold Certification, and believe that this rating demonstrates the commitment of our team of owner’s representatives, architects, engineers and construction professionals that have worked on this project,” said LRCVB President and CEO, Gretchen Hall.
David Porter, AIA, Principal, Polk Stanley Architects, noted, “The design team is thrilled to be part of a sustainable story that started with a monumental decision by the City of Little Rock to reinvest in the Robinson Center and is now manifested in a LEED Gold Rating. It’s a testimony to a community that values historic architecture and has the vision to reimagine it in new ways for future generations.”
LEED Project Highlights:
- The exterior envelope of the original historic building has been restored and continues to be the primary south entrance of the performance hall, in addition to various areas of the original brickwork now being exposed inside a new conference center addition.
- Water use reduction exceeds current state minimums by 37 percent.
- Energy use reduction exceeds current state minimums by 32 percent.
- Robinson Center has achieved exemplary LEED performance in the area of regional materials. Fifty-seven percent of the building material used in the reconstruction of Robinson Center were regional materials (meaning they were extracted and produced within 500 miles of the project site). Building materials used in the reconstruction contain 39 percent recycled content.
- LRCVB has made a two-year commitment to purchase 70 percent of the building power from renewable power sources.
- LRCVB has established a sustainable purchasing program for evaluating all future Robinson Center purchases of goods and supplies.
