AIA Tennessee Honors 11 Projects

by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

Summary: AIA Tennessee announced the winners of its 2008 Design Awards of Excellence, the program that recognizes the design contributions of Tennessee architects and promotes greater awareness of the value of architecture in Tennessee. The 2008 winners include four honor awards and seven merit awards in three categories: new construction, renovation/restoration, and architectural interior design. The chapter announced their awards during the 2008 annual meeting and convention held in Nashville. Composing the Design Awards Jury were Chair Marlon Blackwell, AIA, Marlon Blackwell Architects; Assistant Professor Michael Hughes, University of Arkansas; and Reese C. Rowland, AIA, Polk Stanley Rowland Curzon Porter Architects—all from AIA Arkansas.

Honor Awards

Project: Stir Fry Café
Location: Kingsport
Architect: Dryden Abernathy Architecture Design LLC, with Allen N. Dryden Architects
“Thoughtful detailing and tactile materials add a modern complement to the existing historic building,” said the jury. “The hickory bench/wall blurs the line between building and furnishings as well as between the brick structure and the human body.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Project: Whitehaven Visitor Center
Location: Memphis
Architect: Self Tucker Architects
“Instant curb appeal at 50 miles per hour,” the jury commented. “The lighting and plywood give a toughness to the interior. It is intended to be experienced at a high speed, yet it attracts and invites the traveler to experience the shelter of the shed.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Project: Renaissance Park Outdoor Pavilion
Location: New Orleans
Architect:Hefferlin Kronenberg Architects PLLC, with Eskew + Dumez + Ripple.
“By extending elements and the language of the landscape and master plan, the pavilion merges with the park, the jury noted. “The project avoids contrived formal and metaphoric devices often associated with ‘natural’ settings. The sustainable attributes are not over the top. The roof plane is simply an extension vertically of the ground. A beautiful solution.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Project: parkit here
Location: Memphis
Architect: archimania
“A total transformation that provides a dynamic presence in the city,” the jury commented. “The rehabilitation is a successful strategy in all its elements—roof, wall, limited palette of materials. A simple kit of parts cloaks an existing shell to create a dynamic ensemble that serves both client needs and the scale/nature of the street-front context.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Merit Awards

Project: Summer Street Lofts
Location: Nashville
Architect: Dryden Abernathy | Architecture Design
“Simple, restrained solution,” enthused the jury, “well resolved within community fabric with a human scale and massing. It doesn’t yell, it speaks softly, much like a home should. A good model for inner urban development.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Project: Paine Tanner Office Building
Location: Nashville
Architect: Woodson Gilchrist Architects
“Sensitively scaled to the neighborhood,” the jury commented. “A long building that allows you to enter at its side (middle), successfully negotiating the approach from parking lot and city street. A building in section, expressed by a walk to the center. Elegant reinterpretation of vernacular side yard entry typology. A central courtyard allows light to penetrate into the heart of the building.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Project: Weeks Residence
Location: Knoxville
Architect: Bruce McCarty, FAIA, and Brian Pittman, Associate AIA, Designer, Felder Weeks, AIA, original architect, deceased.
“A very difficult project for a son to re-imagine his father’s work,” the jury stated. “A very thoughtful retelling of a traveler’s story, keeping the strong bones of the idea and settling the new addition away. The project resolves a difficult challenge by enhancing the spatial qualities of the A-framework while adding new contemporary elements.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Project: East End Lofts
Location: Nashville
Architect: Woodson Gilchrist Architects
“A clear expression of use through form, scale, and materials,” exclaimed the jury. “Small entry courts, while referencing a historic use, are not saddled by the application of meaningless ‘history’ as seen in other apartments. The project exemplifies the potential for privileging gracious proportions and quality living space over clichéd historicism and/or superficial form.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Project: Union Station Hotel
Location: Nashville
Architect: Gobbell Hays Partners Inc.
Said the jury: “The renovation enriches and dignifies the spirit of the original. It extends its grandeur with a very careful eye to detail and integration of modern systems. A beautifully restored historic building faithful to the time and place, yet thoughtful to today’s visitor needs. It maintains and enhances the grand spatial and material qualities of the original building. The overall quality and attention to detail are impressive.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Project: U.S. Cellular Retail Center
Location: Knoxville
Architect: Sanders Pace Architecture
“An unbelievable transformation, with a simple perforated screen that creates an image equal to the technology housed within,” the jury described. “It unifies through direct use of one material, one detail. A sophisticated mask—very concise and restrained response.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.

Project: Encore
Location: Memphis
Architect: archimania
“Very ordered spatial organization,” explained the jury. “A rich contrast of deep wood and light materials; the strength is in the simplicity of the idea … one path, one organized experience. A simple and restrained design serves as an elegant backdrop to the dining experience.”
Photo courtesy of the architect.