07/2003

Design Award Winners Celebrate
Diversity of North Carolina

  AIA North Carolina celebrated diversity of architecture and life this year through the 2003 winners of its Design Awards competition. Recipients, whose projects all are located in the Tarheel State, received their accolades at the chapter’s June 7 banquet and awards ceremony in Greensboro. The chapter reports that these award-winning projects represent the broad range of both structure and life in the great state of North Carolina. From the cultural statement of an elegant, lakeside concert pavilion to the importance of manufacturing represented in a product distribution plant, this year’s carefully chosen winners symbolize the state’s many facets.

Honor Awards

Auburn HD Transmitter
Garner, N.C.
by Architektur, PA, Raleigh
Likened to “a giant armadillo” hovering on its site, the Auburn HD Transmitter Facility houses five of the Research Triangle’s six commercial TV networks. Its consolidation of networks allows very efficient land use and saves acres of land, while its attractive steel armature provides strong protection for its electronic functions. Photo © Jim Sink.

“We love the use of industrial materials for a technological program creating a modern evocation of agrarian forms,” the jury commented. “A very creative solution. It all fits together perfectly.”

The Grove Arcade
Asheville, N.C.
by Rowhouse Architects, Inc./Griffin Architects, PA, Asheville
Originally built in 1929, the redeveloped Grove Arcade contains 275,000 square feet on six floors, occupying an entire city block. As it did in its original use, street-level retail occupies the ground floor. In the new incarnation, however, residential units join offices on the upper floors. The lower level contains parking, building services, and storage areas. Photo © Bill Kund.

“A phoenix rising from the ashes, a building brought back to life,” was how the jury characterized the building. “This is a case study of how great architecture can come from doing all the little things just right. We think this is a wonderful project.”

Merit Awards

Coty Vision 2002 Control Center
Sanford, N.C.
Centrepoint Architecture, PA, Raleigh
A 2,000-square-foot control center within a 100,000-square-foot distribution facility, the center includes the operator’s control room, conference room, printer room, and meeting area. A cantilevered, mezzanine-level observation deck allows visitors to “venture into the action” of the plant, while well-placed touches of color reinforce the company’s notion that “good design doesn’t have to be expensive.” Photo © Jim Phillips.

The jury said of the center, “This small project has a lot of graphic impact that allows it to achieve a strong presence within a larger industrial building. A very good plan for the type of space being used. It's over the top in a good way.”

Fuel Warehouse
Kinston, N.C.
by Maune Belangia Faulkenberry, Architects PA, New Bern
This project is the first installation of an emerging chain of convenience stores/fuel stations named Fuel Warehouse. The prototypical design, which has a distinct look for branding purposes, also allows for regional variations to allow the buildings to fit into their local contexts. Photo © Maune Belangia Faulkenberry Architects, PA.

“If I were driving by this project, I'd immediately stop,” commented one of the jury members. “It’s really a lot for what it is. It’s a very inventive concept—something we haven't seen before in this building type.”

Gateway Lofts
Charlotte
by David Furman Architecture, Charlotte
The project uses a 36-foot x 300-foot site for retail on the ground, topped by loft-style housing featuring 15-foot-wide, multilevel units. The units offer stained concrete floors; exposed, load-bearing brick walls; and steel stairs leading to open mezzanines. Penthouse units offer 12-foot-high ceilings and open plans. Photo © Carolina Photo Group.

“The use of well designed housing to front a large parking structure is an innovative solution to a common urban problem,” commended the jury. “Great use of a space-constrained site—it’s a very good project.”

Paletz Moi House
Durham, N.C.
by Kenneth E. Hobgood, Architects, Raleigh
The architect designed this house for two Duke University professors who write a great deal and often work at home. To increase the owners’ connection to the outdoors, the house is built on a long east-west axis, and every major room offers three exposures. Outdoor spaces are designed to serve as extensions of the house. Photo © Paul Warchol Photography.

“Good massing—a very clean look,” said the jury. “The skill with which the composition of materials was handled is quite sophisticated.”

Pavilion at Symphony Lake
Cary, N.C.
by William Rawn Associates, Architects Inc., Boston
A 10,000-seat outdoor performance venue sited on the shore of manmade Symphony Lake, the facility includes a performance shell and a structure containing VIP dining, concession stands, restrooms, and back-of-house services. The new pavilion, which services regional arts and performance groups, offers cultural identity to a new, fast-growing urban area. Photo © Robert Benson Photography.

“We like the way this elegantly sited pavilion provides for the joint enjoyment of performance and nature,” said the jury. “It’s not your typical civic project.”

St. Mary Magdalene Catholic School
Apex, N.C.
by Roger H. Clark, FAIA, and Cannon Architects, Raleigh
This pre-K-through-8 Catholic school is the first phase of a master plan for a new parish. It consists of classrooms, play areas, and a parish house, which, when the entire project is complete, will serve as the school’s media center. The second phase of the project will complete the school facilities, while the third phase will concentrate on the church facilities. Photo © J. West Productions.

The jury thought that the school offered a very good model for projects like this. “We like the way this building relates to its context without being too deferential,” the jury remarked. “The plan completes a courtyard for the school, while the brickwork relates to the adjacent historical context without being historicist.” They described the school as “very well executed top to bottom,” saying that although it is “an inexpensive building, it doesn’t feel cheap.”

Brickyard Chiller Plant (unbuilt project)
Raleigh, N.C.
by Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee, PA, Raleigh
To maximize efficiency on its steeply sloped site, the Brickyard Chiller Plant has cooling towers on the top floor; chillers on the street level; and pumps, heat exchangers, and electrical equipment on the ground floor. This arrangement allows service vehicles to access the building at the street level and ground levels. Drawing courtesy of the architect.

“A wonderfully simple plan—simple, clear, and straightforward with nothing extraneous,” said the jury. “We hope the completed building retains these qualities.”

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View AIA North Carolina’s video presentation of its 2003 award recipients.

In addition to the buildings singled out for honors, AIA North Carolina chose three outstanding individuals as recipients of its highest honors:

Gold Medal: Wilmington architect Charles H. Boney Sr., FAIA, received the F. Carter Williams Gold Medal, the chapter’s highest honor, which recognizes a distinguished career of extraordinary accomplishments as an architect. He joined his family’s architecture practice, Boney Architects in Wilmington, in 1950. Boney’s first design awards were from AIA North Carolina and AIA South Atlantic Region Conference in 1955 for the Little Chapel on the Boardwalk. Other projects earned him a Collaborating Arts Award and Awards of Merit.

An active member of the AIA, Boney served as chairman of the first AIA North Carolina Tower Interior Design Committee, chaired various state committees and led AIA North Carolina as president. Boney served on many committees at the national level. His accomplishments earned him elevation to the AIA College of Fellows in 1978. Also a leader in his community, Boney was instrumental in founding the Historic Wilmington Foundation, founded and chaired one of North Carolina’s first Architectural Review Boards, and has served as a deacon and an elder in his church.

Deitrick Medal for Service: Triangle architect James W. Mason, AIA, was posthumously honored with the William Henley Deitrick Medal for Service, presented to a North Carolina architect who performs extraordinary service to the chapter, profession, or their community. Mason’s success and achievement as one of this region’s premier designers were matched by his commitment to the profession. He served as president of the local AIA component in 1985. Among his many accomplishments were revamping of North Carolina Architecture magazine and creating the statewide Architecture Week celebration.

Firm Award: Dixon Weinstein Architect, PA, a seven-person office in Chapel Hill, received the 2003 Firm Award, given annually to a North Carolina firm that has consistently produced quality architecture with a verifiable level of client satisfaction for a period of at least 10 years as an established presence in the state.

The results of their collaborative approach have been recognized in a dozen local, state,and regional AIA design awards over the past decade. The office focuses on projects for clients who are both the owners and the inhabitants of the spaces. Completed works are located all across North Carolina, from Harker’s Island to Waynesville, and include homes, schools, churches, dormitories, offices, stores, and studios.

The 2003 Awards Jury reviewed made its selections in Seattle in May. Jury members, all firm principals from Seattle, were:
• David Miller, FAIA, Miller/Hull Partnership
• Susan Jones, AIA, NBBJ
• Allan Farkas, Eggleston Farkas Architect.


 
     
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