The AIA Buffalo/WNY Chapter recognized a diverse group of projects for excellence in design at the chapter’s annual design awards reception late last year. James Cohen, AIA; Mark Mistur, AIA; and Jury Chair Patrick Quinn, FAIA, ultimately recognized eight projects for design excellence. Additionally, the chapter presented the Friends of Architecture Award to Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, SJ, president, Canisius College, Buffalo, and the City of North Tonawanda, N.Y., for “providing leadership in the transformation and improvement of their respective environments, resulting in economic growth and historic preservation.”

First Award: New Construction

Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Structural Biology Research Center, Buffalo, by Cannon Design
As a gateway to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research building mirrors the institution’s commitment to innovation, collaboration, and leading-edge research. The building is composed of a rectilinear translucent laboratory block, curved office wing, and transparent three-story atrium that joins the other two. Multifunctional support spaces line circulation paths that thread through the atrium between the office and laboratory volumes, creating an environment of visibility and interaction among scientists throughout the campus. The jury commented, “The unusual idea of gathering the offices away from the labs not only solves some difficult systems problems but offers, in a subtly complex atrium between the two major blocks, an opportunity for interdisciplinary discourse and collegiality.”
Photo © Jeff Goldberg/ESTO.

St. Joseph Hospital New Emergency Room Addition, Cheektowaga, N.Y., by Kideney Architects
Using the existing 1960 hospital facility as a backdrop, this design integrates natural light with a palette of interesting materials and unique forms to revitalize the function and operation of the emergency department. The addition provides a soothing environment for patients, staff, and visitors by using soft colors, comfortable furnishings, and a relaxing interior water feature. Clerestory windows positioned over staff workstations provide natural light and reduce dependence on artificial light sources. “The circulation links are easy, practical, and beautiful,” stated the jury. “The nerve-center of administrative action has excellent visual and physical access to all critical areas, without having to infringe on the privacy of patients and family members.”
Photo © Cavanaugh Photography.

First Award: Adaptive Reuse

Buffalo Public School #67, Buffalo, by Hamilton Houston & Lownie Architects LLC
This three-story ring structure has been reconfigured to transform a 1930s building into a 21st-century elementary school designed to house pre-K-8 grades. The academic program for the school was developed for learning through discovery, teaching by seeing, and experiencing. The existing center light court is reclaimed as an atrium space covered by a tensile fabric covering to house the school library, cafeteria, and technology shops. The reconstructed project teaches through its architecture. The jury stated, “This project exemplifies the strong possibilities offered by adaptive reuse of old urban school buildings. It further illustrates the wisdom of ensuring historical continuity in the urban fabric by showing that new architecture can give new life to old structures and enhance their original character and beauty.”
Photo © Keystone Studios.

First Award: Unbuilt Architecture

Groen Hoek Boathouse Competition, Category II, Brooklyn, by Eric Brodfuehrer, Architect
This entry in the 2004 AIA Emerging NY Architects International Competition creates a design for a boathouse in the Greenpoint community of Brooklyn. The facility addresses the nature of the neighborhood, functions required by the building program, and ideas linked to boating and boat building. The idea of “floating” becomes the primary focus for the design elements. The facility appears as a docked boat along the shoreline while the elegant quality of the design allows the building to float and reflect both land and water. “One of the notable characteristics of the project is the potential interaction between the static forms of a highly articulated geometry and the various dynamic flows of vehicular, pedestrian, and nautical movement and the experiential impact of it all,” the jury noted. “The Groen Hoek Boathouse offers a clear recognition of the issue.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Honorable Mention: New Construction

Erie County Public Safety Campus, Buffalo, by Cannon Design
This public safety facility acts as an important gateway to the City of Buffalo. A series of stacked two-story glass lobbies at the corner of the building accentuates the notion of gateway while impressive angular surfaces create visual interest and connectivity to the surrounding urban context. Security provisions include 50-foot building setbacks, hardened site edges, and sloping protective surfaces that work with the building’s geometry. The building changes scale, texture, and character throughout the day, reflecting the very essence of city life. The jury stated, “Secure government facilities present an extremely difficult problem to solve in an architecturally satisfying manner. This project advances that frontier.”
Photo © Tim Wilkes Photography.

Honorable Mention: Unbuilt Architecture

City of Vancouver 3 Frontier Space Competition, Vancouver, by Studio RIM
The design team strove to create a temporary project intended to provide the public with a new set of possibilities for underutilized urban spaces. These spaces are re-animated as sites for public performances and display, re-involving the pedestrian in the dynamism of the city. Fabric and polycarbonate sheets form lightweight, flexible, and unbreakable canopies that function as enclosures for future Space Agency events in this urban setting. “The adaptation, simplification, ease of fabrication, and concept of application offer evidence of an understanding of how the technological economics of today makes the project both realistic and feasible,” said the jury. “The possibility of re-invigorating the lost spaces of the city for commercial, residential, and pedestrian use is most beguiling.”
Graphics by Milenko Ivanovic.

Honorable Mention: Interior Architecture

New Dental Offices for Drs. Barzman, Kasimov & Vieth, Depew, N.Y., by Lauer Manguso & Associates Architects
The architects converted this existing supermarket structure into Class A office space with Classically styled renovations and whimsical treatment of interior elements and surfaces. The playful incorporation of dental shapes into the interior design creates a unique environment that helps to calm potentially anxious patients. The completed project provides an efficient layout of hygiene and treatment rooms enhanced with advanced dental and computer equipment. The jury agreed: “The designer has done a remarkable job of creating a coherent, exciting interior that gets clearly and joyfully away from stereotypes.”
Photo © Studio Z Photography.

Honorable Mention: Residential Architecture

Private Sauna, in an undisclosed location, by Jay Braymiller—Architect
This private residential structure is designed in the image of Scandinavian saunas, offering the residents a calming retreat to cleanse their spirits as well as their bodies. The building is sited to maintain privacy while providing magnificent views of the surrounding woods and pond. Large roof overhangs and cedar trim relate to details and materials of the primary residence, while the deck and steps hover above the ground, providing the illusion that the building stands at the water’s edge. “This tiny building and its seemingly rustic setting evoke faintly romantic images of Calvin Vaux, not to mention memories of Tanizaki’s description of a Japanese outhouse in In Praise of Shadows,” stated the jury.
Photo © James Cavanaugh/Martin Knauss.

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