AIA Gulf States Celebrate Design for Building Types Grand and Humble

AIA Gulf States Celebrate Design for Building Types Grand and Humble

Represented in this year’s AIA Gulf States Design Awards are a car dealership, fire station, orthopedic doctor’s office, middle school, and—perhaps most notably—a DMV facility. All prove once again that all building types can be enriched by quality design. Architects from the Gulf States Region of the AIA set records in both the number of entries and number of awards in the 2012 Honor Awards program. Honor Award: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Museum Store in Bentonville, Ark., designed by Marlon Blackwell Architect. Jury comments: This gift shop in a new museum is embraced by a bold, curved ceiling made of cherry plywood. Filled with light and subtly colored tones of wood, this space is both inspiring and reverential. The suspended light fixtures are a touch of brilliance. Image courtesy of Timothy Hursley.

Honor Award: Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, designed by Marlon Blackwell Architect. Jury comments: [The pavilion’s] cross section is thoughtfully considered with a roof that hovers above the rooms as delicately as a leaf. Sunlight filters through the roof and the building is poised above an environmentally sensitive wetland. Alternately transparent and closed, it sits comfortably on a sensitive site with great lightness. Image courtesy of Timothy Hursley.

Honor Award: Visible Music College in Memphis, designed by archimania. Jury comments: This is a mid-century Modern building greatly improved by the architect's deft insertions, using color to code the organization of the client's program to clearly delineate the existing structure from the new construction. Sleek and modern, this new design greets visitors in a forthright and inviting manner through a design that is as vibrant as it is refreshing. Image courtesy of Chad Mellon, CMPStudio.

Honor Award: LSU Music and Dramatic Arts Building in Baton Rouge, La., designed by HMS Architects and STBP Architects. Jury comments: The architect lovingly restored the existing building and made additions that did not detract or compete with the original structure. The proscenium theater, in particular, was restored to its original glory. The architect inserted new life safety systems unobtrusively, preserving the high spirits of this glorious Art Deco building. Image courtesy of David L’Hoste.

Honor Award: Whitehaven Driver Services Center in Memphis, designed by LRK Inc. Jury comments: Who would think a visit to the DMV could be so pleasant! This design elevates a mundane, unpleasant chore to a rich and rewarding experience. The architect has taken a classic, simple shed and transformed it into a work of architecture by using the roof as the formal organizer and by contrasting open and opaque building elements. Image courtesy of Chad Mellon, CMPStudio.

Honor Citation: Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayette, La., designed by Architect of Record Architects Southwest in collaboration with Eskew+Dumez+Ripple. Jury comments: An engaging street elevation creates a new face for an existing building. Visitors move easily from the sidewalk to the interior through a delightful and appropriately scaled lobby. Beyond the lobby, an engaging mix of activity spaces for art, music, dance, film, and theater creates an interior cityscape of great liveliness. Indeed, the architect has made a strong connection between the internal drama of the theater and the bustle of a city street. Image courtesy of Timothy Hursley.

Honor Citation: Mercedes-Benz of Memphis Service Drive Lane Addition, designed by archimania. Jury comments: The architect exercised great restraint in doing nothing more than was needed. The insertion of a long, thin clerestory was a stroke of brilliance. The result is as elegant and purposeful as the cars the structure serves. Image courtesy of Langdon Clay.

Honor Citation: Chapel at Rio Roca Ranch in Palo Pinto County, Texas, designed by Maurice Jennings + Walter Jennings Architects. Jury Comments: Sitting in the chapel, you feel as if you're resting on the side of a mountain. Clearly a Modern building, the chapel also evokes a spiritual ambiance reminiscent of Gothic architecture. It builds on and extends the vocabulary of Fay Jones and Frank Lloyd Wright, blending nature, art, and craft. Image courtesy of Walter Jennings.

Honor Citation: St. Bernard Parish Fire Station #6 in Chalmette, La., designed by Chase Marshall Architects. Jury comments: Fire stations are familiar community buildings, symbols of protection and service. Here, the architect has excelled in meeting the needs of this well-known building type with poise and skill. This is a very smart little building with very big ideas. Image courtesy of Will Crocker.

Honor Citation: The Memphis Chapter of the Recording Academy, designed by archimania. Jury comments: A slender partition severs the space of a long interior room. Triple layers of transparency, opaqueness, and translucence in the partition create a sense of depth across the narrow the space and mark the rhythm of the building. The partition is spontaneously enhanced with spots of pure color. Image courtesy of of Chad Mellon, CMPStudio.

Honor Citation: Shelton Group office in Knoxville, Tenn., designed by Sanders Pace Architecture. Jury comments: The jury admired the architect's clean, bold concept, which inserts new construction into an existing building and allows both to coexist. The plan is clear and well organized. We liked the way the intervention offset the original industrial building, in effect celebrating its grandness. Image courtesy of Jack Parker Photography.

Honor Citation: Lamar Advertising Corporate Headquarters in Baton Rouge, La., designed by Eskew+Dumez+Ripple. Jury comments: A brilliant transformation of existing spaces [turns] an existing data center into a lively corporate headquarters. The interiors are illuminated by a new courtyard carved into the building, which brings daylight and trees into [its] center. A very ingenious use of materials provides richness in color and texture. Image courtesy of Timothy Hursley.

Honor Citation: Green Forest Middle School in Green Forest, Ark., designed by modus studio. Jury comments: [This school is] a delightful mix of people, space, and color. It is cleanly built, not condescending or sentimental, with interiors remarkable for a richness achieved with economy and grace. It raises the quality of the learning environment. A very accomplished building built with a limited budget that is fun, practical, and sustainable. Image courtesy of Rett Peek.

Honor Citation: The Hertz Center at Tulane University in New Orleans, designed by Gould Evans Associates and Lee Ledbetter & Associates. Jury comments: [This athletic practice facility] greets the street with an elegant facade composed of simple planes folded to shape eyebrows over windows and doors. The plan is carefully disposed on an irregularly shaped site, with normally shaped rooms creating residual interior spaces that are animated by exhibits and informal gathering areas. Smaller spaces don't feel subservient to the main gymnasium space, and the spatial arrangement on the inside is reflected on the outside. Image courtesy of Shannon Sheridan.

Merit Award: Lewis – Markell Residence in Memphis, designed by John Harrison Jones, AIA. Jury comments: Interpreting the spirit of the original residence, the architect has created a more accomplished mid-century Modern building than the original. Layered walls and color enhance interior spaces, and the vertical grain of the interior is a welcomed counterpoint to the horizontality of the original design. Image courtesy of John Harrison Jones.

Merit Award: Tabor Orthopedics in Memphis, designed by archimania. Jury comments: A real ugly duckling turned into a swan. The architect has added to and subtracted from the original building to create a lively and well-ordered design. The use of a steel box to enclose windows is a simple but effective sunshade device that enlivens the facade. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Jacobs Photography.

Merit Award: Barrier Island House in Vero Beach, Fla., designed by Sanders Pace Architecture. Jury comments: [This house exhibits] a refined blend of materials--stucco, cedar, brick, and glass--that weave around interior and exterior spaces to provide areas of refuge and prospect. Nearly one-third of the house is unconditioned space, a testament to the architect’s understanding of site and climate. Image courtesy Brandon Pace, AIA.

Merit Award: Southgate Condominium in Nashville, designed by BAUER ASKEW Architecture. Jury comments: Restraint, subtle details, craft, and beautiful materials characterize this interior remake. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Jacobs Photography.

Merit Award: New Norris House in Norris, Tenn., designed by the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design. Jury comments: The jury commends the modesty and restraint of this small dwelling, which continues the spirit of innovation in low cost housing pioneered in the early modern buildings of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The architect has incorporated many sustainable building elements with great economy and skill. This is a modern, sustainable design for contemporary living, and is thoroughly admirable for its efficiency and delight. Image courtesy of Ken McCown.

Merit Award: 930 Poydras Residential Tower in New Orleans, designed by Eskew+Dumez+Ripple. Jury comments: The jury thought the entry sequence from automobile to an elevated commons was excellent, and the rooftop outdoor spaces were very inviting. Regionally appropriate, but forward looking, the building brings new life to its beloved city. Image courtesy of Timothy Hursley.

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