Join us in honoring the Elizabeth River Project’s Pru and Louis Ryan Resilience Lab as a finalist for best urban design in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design 2024 Awards.

Located in Norfolk, Virginia’s Knitting Mill Creek, this laboratory serves as ERP’s headquarters for outreach and education, showcasing climate resilience techniques applicable across Coastal Virginia. Our team led the design and engineering of all site, shoreline, and landscape features on this former brownfield site, including bioretention elements, permeable pavers, the boat dock, living shorelines, and the circular observation boardwalk.

A key aspect of this project was the City of Norfolk’s Coastal Resilience Overlay Zone requirements. We also designed the site to accommodate the first rolling conservation easement in the country, which will eventually surrender the site back to the sea as water levels rise to specific elevations.

The Innovation by Design Awards celebrate world designers across all disciplines who are pioneering creative solutions to today’s most pressing issues. The inclusion of the Ryan Resilience Lab in these awards highlights the vital work of local environmental advocates like the Elizabeth River Project and underscores the crucial role that resilience in design will continue to play in our communities.