AIA Vermont Honors Seven Projects for Excellence in Design

Las Vegas Affordable Housing Complex Fosters Community, Sustainability, and Colorful Design
The Otto Merida Desert Villas in Las Vegas, a 250,000-square-foot, 8-acre affordable housing subdivision, works hard to avoid a “public housing” image and create a community atmosphere. The design, by Las Vegas-based Lucchesi Galati Architects, for 60 detached single-family and duplex rental units, includes a vibrant color scheme, front porches oriented toward the street to form a community streetscape, rear porches facing each other, shared courtyards, and landscaped walkways and patios connecting the units. The project, which opened last year, also includes a number of sustainability strategies, including drought-tolerant landscaping.

PROJECT WATCH
Glen Fall’s Crandall Public Library Opens to the Public, Historically Restored and Sporting a New Addition
The Crandall Public Library in Glen Falls, N.Y.—named the New York Library Association’s 2008 Best Library Construction/Renovation Project—reopened to the public on December 12, 2008. Ann Beha Architects restored the original 12,600-square-foot building, designed in 1931 by Charles Platt and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The design provided a new 39,400-sf expansion fronting the city’s main street. The addition matches the height and scale of the adjacent historic building and is conceived as a connector piece or “bridge” clad primarily in glass. A metal screen canopy cascading over the new entrance shades the windows behind and recalls Glen Falls’ magnificent waterfall namesake.