AIA Baltimore proudly honored the 10 winners of the chapter’s annual Design Awards program late last year at the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Brown Center, followed by a Beaux Arts ball. Presenting the awards was AIA Baltimore President David Segmiller, AIA, who revealed the identity of the Grand Design winner, which had been kept secret until that moment. Chosen from a field of 73 entries, this year’s chosen projects represent the finest work of chapter members, and all but one are in the Baltimore area. The chapter also honored the winners of its Residential Awards program, which can be seen on its Web site.

Grand Design Award

Unitas Stadium Field House, Towson, Md., by Cho Benn Holback + Associates, for Towson University
“In a stadium design, it is difficult to bring together formal aesthetics and the utilitarian housing of many people. Here, with no attempt to hide the foundations, the structure is clearly delineated as the brick stretches itself,” the jury said. “The design allows the formal symmetrical stadium view lines while carrying asymmetrical playfulness into the third dimension. Transparency allows all activities to be viewed at night from outside, creating reverse participation. Such good strategy makes the stadium a space on the campus. The perimeter inhabits a carved-out space with campus buildings arranged around. The field house, concessions, and boxes help make the oval space into a village as opposed to a coliseum. Interesting detailing is created by exposing and emphasizing normal construction materials. The elevations are elegant.” Photo courtesy of the architect

Design Award

Oliver Center, Baltimore, by Riley & Rohrer, LLC, for the City of Baltimore
“This adaptive reuse creates an elegant backdrop so the activities are center stage,” according to the jury. “The simple and minimal materiality carries through the design. Careful use of wood, glass, and aluminum creates color and an extremely well-handled palette. We applaud the client and architects for using this Spartan interior so successfully for this typology.”
Photo © Charles Freeman

Design Award: Michael F. Trostel, FAIA, Award for Excellence in a Historic Preservation Project

Casey Family Services, Baltimore, by Cho Benn Holback + Associates Inc., for Annie E. Casey Foundation
“This adaptive reuse brings light and brightness to a gritty industrial area. It is not afraid of putting welcoming windows on the street, allows the existing building to breathe, and takes good advantage of the loft space,” the jury explained. “One can enjoy the experience of the original volume. The new entrance leads to a dynamic two-story space punctuated with a mezzanine bridge, which creates good circulation. Interesting materials are used in the reception area.”
Photo courtesy of the architect

Design Awards: Unbuilt

Middle School #255 Library, Baltimore, by Alexander Design Studio P.C., for Baltimore City Public Schools
“This idea is very strong—creating a continuous piece of furniture to move into a space and define it,” according to the jury. “These components can be inserted into bland spaces to create excitement and to articulate a universal open space. This speaks to the potential of an idea.”
Photo courtesy of the architect

Waystead, St. Martins River, Md., by Alexander Design Studio, PC, for Mark Kauffman and Lucy Van Vorhees
“This interesting project takes an existing modest and traditional cottage and makes it grow, creating a continuum. The original building coexists well. This is not a case of the tail wagging the dog,” the jury said. “The design walks a fine line between dynamic composition and traditional detailing. The folded roof implies a walled structure, but inside is a free plan—intriguing and very dreamy.”
Photo courtesy of the architect

Honorable Mention Awards

Annie E. Casey Foundation Headquarters, Baltimore, by Cho Benn Holback + Associates, Inc., for the Annie E. Casey Foundation
“This adaptive reuse respects and takes good advantage of the existing large space and allows the shell to breathe,” the jury remarked. “This is a full program with a high percentage of efficient and multi-level floorplates with elegantly handled transitioning and accessibility. The design emphasizes a few key views, shows restraint and consistency in detailing.”
Photo © David Sundberg/Esto, Esto Photographic Services, Inc.

Integrated Natural Sciences Center, Haverford, Pa., by Ayers/Saint/Gross, Inc., for Haverford College
“This is a successful attempt to create a collegiate image in the traditional sense,” according to the jury. “The large science program makes the technical aspects of the roofline and envelope difficult. This building begins to create a college quad space and reconciles the grid plan of the campus with the skewed access of the existing building. The massing is very successful.”
Photo © Alan Karchmer

The Krieger Building, Baltimore, by Hord Coplan Macht Inc., for the Associated Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore
“This is a surprisingly good addition to a benign and average structure,” the jury remarked. “The play between the two sets up an interesting tension of styles. The interlocking nature of the two is appealing. The original suburban-type building is no longer isolated in a parking-lot setting. With the new addition, it now presents a much more urbane presence.”
Photo courtesy of Hord Coplan Macht, Inc.

The Tate Cancer Center, Glen Burnie, Md., by Cannon Design, for North Arundel Hospital
“We are particularly enamored with the wonderful abstract nature of the early design studies,” the jury enthused. “This difficult health-care program appropriately drove the design decisions. Bringing so much light into the building is an attempt to make this building more than a wrapper around technology. For a place where most patients don’t want to go, especially in the dark, this is an inviting building.”
Photo © Michael Dersin

Associates Award

Artscape M&T Bank Model Home Pavilion, Baltimore, by Carbrey Norbeck Shorb Shrum, for the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts
“This project is totally intriguing—we want to see more!” exclaimed the jury. “This interesting use of a normative, everyday material like Tyvek, intended to reduce air infiltration, to create a translucent and glowing scrim or veil is poetic. The sequence of space with a porch looking back over the festival harkens to the real intention of a porch—enjoyment.”
Photo © Eric Bruce Salsbery

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