AIA NC 2009 Design Awards

Above: DPAC Interior, Photo: David Millsaps

Raleigh and the Triangle were very prominent in this year’s NC AIA awards. Last week the Awards Ceremony was held in Raleigh at the NC Museum of Science and the architects celebrated their achievements. Below find pictures and descriptions for some of the many winners. See AIA NC’s website for the full list.

Cherry Huffman Architects walked away with Firm of the Year- the 20+ team located on the corner of Blount and Martin Streets has slowly expanded their community involvement and visibility. The downtown architecture firm has a holistic approach to projects that has consistently earned them honors and had a positive effect on the communities around their work. This starts with a set of values centered around sustainability:

to sustain
to keep up or keep going, an action or process
to supply with the necessities or nourishment of life
to support, by aid or approval
to support, to bear the weight of
to keep in existence, maintain
to support the spirits, vitality or resolution of; encourage

The partners, Louis Cherry, Dan Huffman, Sharon Crawford and Hal Bowen have created a haven for their employees and have several programs to encourage healthy lifestyle and communion among the team. You can see their work locally at the Wake County Human Services Center, the entrance canopies and Park and Ride at RDU, the Quintiles Tower, the Cameron Village Library, the McSwain Education Center at NC State’s Raulston Arboretum and the forth coming Clarence E Lightner Public Safety Center.

Additionally the Gail Lindsey Sustainabily Award went to Cheryl Walker, FAIA LEED AP of Charlotte. William H Deitrick Service Medal was awarded to Katherine N. Peele, FAIA, LEED AP of Raleigh, and The F Carter Williams Gold Medal went to Jesse J Peterson, FAIA of Wilmington.

Honor Awards

1804 Pictou Road
Michael Rantilla, AIA
Project Location: Raleigh, NC

This private home literally springs upward from the pristine wooded site. Wedged between zoning setbacks, a stream buffer and a steep slope, the home squeezes vertically into a three story scheme, elevated above the uninterrupted ground plane flowing beneath. Each floor is expressed as a discrete rectangular volume, clad in a different material and spun radially from a 40 foot tall, 18 inch thick solid concrete shear wall. Fully cantilevered stair treads project from the shear wall allowing light and views to pass through. Vertical circulation always maintains a close connection to the diagrammatic and structural centroid of the building.

Park Shops
Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee
Raleigh, NC

This 1914 three-story, masonry structure is transformed into a 21st century multi-functional campus building. The existing L-shaped building forms two sides to a new campus plaza. In order to help activate the plaza, two new intersecting public paths were cut through the existing walls and floors to allow pedestrians to circulate easily between the upper and the lower plaza level. To demarcate the paths, new elements were inserted at the ending of each axis. One of the main elements is a glass-enclosed café pavilion located on the south facade, transforming the back of the building into the new main entrance.

Photo: Aye Shamus

The Durham Performing Arts Center
Szostak Design
Project Location: Durham, NC
Photo: AbbyLadybug

The Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC), a 2,800 seat Broadway-style theater, is the largest venue of its kind in the Carolinas. Created to accommodate touring theatrical companies, concerts, and locally produced stage performances, DPAC was co-developed and designed by the architect and was built for a total project cost of $46 million, less than half the price of comparable venues elsewhere in the country. Hailed for its aesthetics, crisp acoustics, intimacy of seating, and excellent sightlines, DPAC is a skillful marriage between a simply composed, highly efficient house and a dramatic, multi-level glass lobby.

Biomanufacturing Research Institute & Technology Enterprise Facility (BRITE)
O’Brien Atkins (Architect of Record), The Freelon Group (Design Lead)
Project Location: Durham, NC

The Biomanufacturing Research Institute & Technology Enterprise Facility (BRITE) consists of a 35,000 gross-square-foot research laboratory addition to the existing Mary M. Townes Science Building at North Carolina Central University’s Science Complex. The east elevation facing the Science Complex courtyard is a semi-transparent curtain wall and is thought of as more contemplative in nature. In contrast, the west elevation, cloistered by a masonry shell, protects the interior classrooms and teaching lab environment form the west sun. Its vertical window pattern was derived from the geometry of an unfolded DNA strand, reflective of the buildings purpose, which teaches processes in Biomanufacturing.

Merit Awards

Hamlet Passenger Depot Relocation & Renovation
David E. Gall, Architect, PA
Project Location: Hamlet, NC

The Hamlet Passenger Depot, constructed in 1900 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, could not be renovated due to liability concerns. The Depot was located precariously surrounded by railroad tracks. An ambitious multi-phased project was devised, including the building’s relocation and extensive renovations conforming to the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. At the new location, the Depot serves the City as a place for special events, an Amtrak station, a museum of Hamlet’s railroad heritage, backdrop for the annual Seaboard Festival, and a source of pride for the small community.

Laurel Park Elementary School
Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee
Project Location: Cary, NC

Laurel Park Elementary School is a new 900-student school crafted from a renovation of an existing pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Cary, NC. The existing structure was completely gutted leaving only the structural frame, exterior walls with metal panels, roof systems, cooling tower, and boiler. New floors, windows, doors, and interior walls and finishes were added.The existing building was not ideal for classroom layout which resulted in a somewhat confusing circulation pattern. Color was used to orient users to the primary and secondary circulation patterns, while new and existing skylights allowed natural light to penetrate into the heart of the school.

Wake Technical Community College - Building D
Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee
Project Location: Raleigh, NC

Building D acts as part of an architectural protective filter, separating the campus’s landscaped spaces, Neuse River buffers and wetlands from the campus access roads and parking areas. At approximately 75,000 gsf, the building contains classrooms, faculty offices, lounges and a bookstore on four floors. Building D also acts as a threshold into the campus core. A large framed two story opening defines the entry and allows for pedestrian movement from the vehicular zone to the landscaped campus interior. This frame also shelters an elevated campus -scaled porch and focuses views to the old growth trees, pond and wetlands beyond.

School of Education at NC A&T State University
The Freelon Group
Project Location: Greensboro, NC

The new 65,000 square-foot School of Education building for NC A&T University plays a key role in the University Master Plan by defining the eastern edge of the campus’ new central quadrangle. The strong north-south horizontal massing of the building terminates with a 55 foot cantilever reaching out to Benbow Road. This gesture embodies the progressive spirit of the school. As a horizontal counterpoint to the tall vertical grove of existing trees on the site as well as the future adjacent bell tower, the building form and its cantilever establish a new gateway to the heart of campus.

National Center for Civil and Human Rights
The Freelon Group (Design Lead), HOK (Architect of Record)
Project Location: Atlanta, GA

The planned 100,000 square foot National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta will be a LEED®-certified institution with exhibition, meeting, performance, dining and retail space. Exhibit content will focus on human rights struggles throughout the world and on the Civil Rights movement in the United States, with a particular emphasis on Atlanta’s significant influence and contribution to the civil rights movement. Visitors will experience national and international topics through interactive exhibitions, immersive activities and hi-tech offerings.

District of Columbia Public Library - Anacostia Branch
The Freelon Group (Architect of Record), R. McGhee & Associates (Associate Architect)
Project Location: Washington, DC

The planned Anacostia Neighborhood Library is a 23,000 gross-square-foot facility in one of DC’s oldest historic neighborhoods. The area, rich in Native and African-American history, serves as the design inspiration for the Library, drawing from the scale of the adjacent residential context and the open green site. Neighborhood residential blocks are reflected as pavilions or solid volumes. The remainder of the level one plan is high ceiling and open space, housing the main reading room, library collections and public seating areas. These open spaces and pavilions are covered by a large roof structure, providing shelter and a sense of community.

101 Lounge + Café
Vernacular Studio
Project Location: Raleigh, NC

101 is a cafe, bar and lounge, based on the dichotomy of daytime and nighttime functions. By day, the lower level bistro offers breakfast and lunch; its interior dominated by a bright, clean-lined aesthetic. Throughout the day, the upstairs lounge acts as a support space to the bistro, providing overflow seating and a secondary kitchen. In the evening, the ground floor serves the second level, its bar providing the spirits consumed in the lounge above. 101’s atmosphere is relaxed yet refined; the tactile appeal of the Brazilian cherry millwork and complementary earth tones provide guests with a comfortable social experience.