The Alabama Council of the AIA selected nine outstanding projects to honor with design awards. The chapter stresses that their design awards program encourages excellence in architecture through the commentary of colleagues. Bruce Lindsey, AIA, head of Auburn University’s school of architecture, served as chair for a jury that included Doug Garofalo, FAIA; Daniel S. Friedman, FAIA; and Daniel Harding Wheeler, FAIA. The jury chose the projects for recognition based on the success with which they met the jury’s requirements, not in competition with each other.

Honor Awards

Giattina Fisher Aycock Architects Inc., with contractor Golden & Associates Construction, Inc., for Jemison Flats, Birmingham
The idea behind Jemison Flats was to redevelop three abandoned downtown buildings into a mixed-use complex of 57 loft apartments, 25,000 square feet of office space, covered parking for 200 cars, and a small public park. Working with a site a block west of the economically vital urban core, Jemison Flats successfully combines urban redevelopment and adaptive re-use to increase the energy and economic activity of a decayed downtown. The Jemison Flats solution interconnected the three historic buildings, which sit in the heart of Birmingham’s Central Business District. Working with a tight budget and great respect of historic guidelines, the design team researched materials and layouts to minimize partitions, maximize light infiltration, and create visual interest in each living unit.
Photo © M. Lewis Kennedy Jr.

Giattina Fisher Aycock Architects Inc., with contractor Golden & Associates Construction Inc., for Jemison Park, Birmingham
This small urban park completes the residential/commercial redevelopment of an abandoned block in Birmingham’s Central Business District. The architects conceived the park as “a gathering space for the new community, a respite, and a bridge to further community.” About 80-feet by 100-feet, the park anchors the southeast corner of the block, helped by existing brick building walls on the north and west perimeters. The garden includes these walls, a textural floor, conceptual ceiling, and water. The park, raised 18 inches above the sidewalk, is accessible by wide, smooth-formed concrete steps and a ramp at the east side. The south side offers a seat-height wall of smooth-formed concrete.
Photo © M. Lewis Kennedy Jr.

Awards of Merit
Merit Residential Award

ArchitectureWorks LLP, with contractor Rives Construction Company and landscape contractor Pratt Brown Landscapes Inc., for a private residence, Birmingham
Keeping the balance of this existing residence intact, the architect and contractors developed exterior spaces—including a serene pool and sun terrace—to create an enhanced living environment for the residents. The design/build projects delivered a main level designed for the enjoyment of family, friends, food, recreation, and entertainment; private rooms on the upper level; and special-use activity spaces on the lower level. The house and garden become one; each space is shaped by a full palette of plants, materials, and handcrafted pieces connected by natural and artificial light.
Photo © Sylvia Martin.

Merit Adaptive Reuse Award

Giattina Fisher Aycock Architects Inc., with contractor Golden & Associates Construction, Inc., for the Emergency & Specialty Animal Medical Center, Birmingham
This design-build project entailed redevelopment of a suburban house into a 24-hour emergency and specialty animal medical clinic that takes advantage of the site’s main assets: its wooded character and proximity to a major road. The program called for more than doubling the square footage and adding client parking. The building’s new form arose from the old: Sited on a pedestal of exposed architectural concrete, it offers a simple composition of glass, steel, corrugated metal, and cypress siding. Capping the inviting exteriors is a steeply sloped roof with sizeable overhanging eaves. The architects used a liberal expanse of glass combined with a series of playfully colored steel columns and corrugated canopy to clearly define the public entrance.
Photo © M. Lewis Kennedy Jr.

Merit Commercial Award

L. Hughes Associates, Architects, with contractor Sain Construction Company, for the Jack Daniel Barbecue Pavilion Lynchburg, Tenn.
The Jack Daniel Barbecue Pavilion offers a hillside, open-air, rustic pavilion with panoramic views of historic Lynchburg, the sweeping countryside, and the Jack Daniel Distillery on the adjacent hills and valley below. Serving on average 200 guests per function, the pavilion contains a kitchen of approximately 900 square feet with a large serving counter. The architect incorporated screen doors to control insects and thus extend use during warmer months; as well, a fireplace was provided to allow visitors during colder months. Stage areas for the Jack Daniel Band sit on both ends of the pavilion.
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Merit Institutional Award

Krumdieck A + 1 Design, with contractor Gary C. Wyatt, for St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, Catholic Diocese of Birmingham
The elegant design of this parish church employs a classic bell tower and small chapel for a congregation of 1,000. Working from a belief that a church is a vehicle for elevating the spirit, the architect pursued a design solution that engaged the symbology inherent within ecclesiastical design. The traditional cruciform plan recalls the crucifixion and the body of Christ. The tabernacle is located at the physical head of the church, with the altar located forward of it, and is surrounded by the sacristy wherein the priest prepares the mass. The nave surrounds the congregation with 12 columns (symbolic of the 12 disciples) in pairs, indicating one is never alone.
Photo © Michael J. Neilson/Mike Neilson Images.

Honorable Mention

KPS Group Inc., with contractor Turner Construction Company, for the University of Georgia’s Food Safety & Quality Enhancement Lab, Athens, Ga.
This new design added 33,000 square feet of laboratories, research offices, administrative suite, and conference and support spaces to the original 1960s structure. The architect’s strategy was to configure the addition as a “wrap,” projecting a new frontispiece into the lawn facing the highway. The site, at the public edge of the research station, faces onto the primary artery into town. Immediate surroundings include agricultural plots, greenhouses, and, toward the highway, a long, down-sloping lawn crowned by the building at the top of a rise.
Photo © Creative Services.

Giattina Fisher Aycock Architects, Inc., with contractor Poster Construction Company Inc., for the Gymnasium at George Washington Carver High School for Health Professions, Engineering & Technology, Birmingham
The architects designed this 2,000-student city magnet high school for health professions, engineering, and technology—Birmingham’s first new high school in 50 years—to serve as a positive icon for the city. The site, formerly a municipal golf course, sits on an Appalachian foothill overlooking the inner city. Placed at the crest of the site, the school is visible to the city below. Footpaths extend the city streets from the neighborhood and gently wind up a 100-foot rise through the neighborhood to the school. At the base of the hill, former fairways were converted to parks and play fields.
Photo © M. Lewis Kennedy Jr.

Top Block Award, presented by the Alabama Masonry Institute Paradigm Architects, with contractor Robins and Morton, for the Russell Medical Center, Alexander City, Ala.
The Top Block Award honors creative masonry design that highlights the use of masonry products. For this project, the architects used masonry to give this existing hospital a fresh new look that also blends with the original hospital complex. To highlight the existing building’s brick veneer, the architect turned to architectural buff-colored masonry units. Specifically, the design employs 4-inch split-face masonry units, 4-inch split-face return corners, 8-inch split-face masonry units, and 8-inch split-face return corners.
Photo © Charles Beck/Charles Beck Studios.

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