The AIA Maryland Annual Design Award Competition, held each September, yielded a fine harvest this year of award-winning buildings that range from a maintenance yard for city vehicles to a very modest and beautiful private residence. The jury, from the AIA Northeastern Pennsylvania Chapter, presented the architects from the Free State with three honor awards, four merit awards, seven citations, and a Public Building of the Year Award. The honorees received their accolades at the Society's Design Awards Banquet in College Park, Md., September 25.

Public Building of the Year

Harford Community College Student Center
by Cho Benn Holback + Associates,
with CAM Construction Co.,
for Harford Community College

Jury comments:
“Impressive transformation of a mundane building showing restraint and consistency of detail. It comes off with authority and completeness that one would envy in a building. Superb job handling a limited palate by subtle geometric shifts.”

Photo © David Sundberg, ESTO Photographics, Inc.

Honor Awards

Henson School of Science and Technology
by a joint venture of Cho Benn Holback + Associates, with Mitchell Giurgola Architects LLP,
with Bovis Construction Co.,
for Salisbury University

Jury comments:
“A very approachable building that responds to the context by use of materials. Strong example of maintaining a humane scale for a science building on a college campus. The large and small gestures appropriately respect each other and existing circulation.”

Photo © Kevin Chu

Casey Family Services
by Cho Benn Holback + Associates,
with Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, Inc.,
for the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Jury comments:
“Heartfully done by the geometry of the site and the juxtaposition of the two forms; connecting bridges, unifying the old and the new. Nicely done at an intimate scale and rather approachable building. The details are nicely handled.”

Photo © ESTO Photographics, Inc.

Blaustein Philanthropic Group
by Riley & Rohrer,
with Forrester Construction Company,
for the Blaustein Philanthropic Group

Jury comments:
“The lighting and materials were very appropriate to the solution. This is a project that knows what not to do. It is very elegant in its strength and simplicity.”

Photo © Erik Kvalsvik

Merit Awards

Notre Dame Marikle Chapel Historic Renovation
by Murphy & Dittenhafer, Inc.,
with Whiting Turner Contracting Co.,
for the College of Notre Dame of Maryland

Jury comments:
“It is restrained and thoughtful and an act of recovery that the congregation probably lost for many years. It accommodated new planning requirements within a new space. Quite a leap to see what was there in recent history.”

Photo © Alain Jaramillo

West Side Strategic Plan
by Design Collective, Inc.,
for Baltimore Development Corporation

Jury comments:
“A very thorough job at projecting vision for the city and bringing results. This is a great example of very good work in a very good place.”

Photo © Scott Geczi

H.I.P.'s Artists' Housing
by Wiencek + Associates Architects + Planners,
with Hamel Builders, Inc.,
for Housing Initiative Partnership

Jury comments:
“Impressive how much was accomplished with a palate of limited means. A wonderful example of a city setting with potential for recovering bits of their lives. The attention to small and large details helps contribute to what is an extraordinary project.”

Photo © Eric Taylor

East Side Maintenance Yard
by Murphy & Dittenhafer, Inc.,
with Orfanos Construction,
for the Baltimore City Department of Public Works

Jury comments:
“Simple and strong and worthy of nostalgia because it takes the simplicity of circumstance and makes it a strong place. Impressive small gestures with limited means to make a much better place to be. A modest program and palate of materials are elevated.”

Photo courtesy of AIA Baltimore

Citations

Maryland Society/AIA also presented citations to seven projects this year:

• Weinig-Glover Residence, by David Jameson Architect, Inc.
• Bartholomew House, by Bennett Frank McCarthy Architects, Inc.
• Patriots Peace Memorial, by David D. Quillan Architecture
• Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center, by Cho Benn Holback + Associates
• Private Residence in Brookmont, Md., by Bennett Frank McCarthy Architects Inc.
• Fresh Fields / Whole Foods Market, by Peter Fillat Architects Inc., /BHF
• Total Office Interiors, by Riley & Rohrer.

For more information and photos of these projects, visit the chapter’s Web site.

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