2015 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture

The 2015AIA Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture jury includes: Rick Kremer, FAIA (Chair), Architect Rick Kremer, FAIA; Matt Murphy, AIA, RMTA; Luke Ogrydziak, AIA, Ogrydziak Prillinger Architects; Susan Elizabeth Seifert, AIA, seifertmurphy and Steven Shapiro, Hon. AIA, Clark Construction. 

Arent Fox; Washington, D.C. 
STUDIOS Architecture
Key elements of this office building include a formal reception space with a physical and visual connection to the building lobby, a conference center, an auditorium with tiered seating, break-out areas for receptions, and slab openings on typical office floors for visual connection to other floors.  The building has two primary street-facing sides and two sides that face an alley. To create parity between the two, the design places key elements on the alley side of the building to draw people from the front to the back for collaboration and support functions.  Glass was used to shape offices and conference rooms and to blur the line between circulation and enclosed spaces.

The Barbarian Group; New York City
Clive Wilkinson Architects;  Design Republic Partners Architects LLP
The offices for digital marketing firm The Barbarian Group were designed with connectivity, accessibility, and collaboration in mind. Simplifying the basic needs of the conventional office to their core, an endless table was envisioned that connects all employees at a single surface. The table, dubbed “the Superdesk,” rises and falls throughout the space, lifting over pathways and creating work and meeting grottos beneath its arches. Its plywood underside is made of 870 unique laser-cut panels, and its top surface is a light-reflecting pearlescent white with a clear epoxy coating.

Beats By Dre; Culver City, California 
Bestor Architecture
The Beats By Dre campus was designed to reflect the diverse and innovative work undertaken in the music and technological fields.  The main building is carved by a, two-story lobby that forms an axis and two courtyards to orient the work spaces.  Courtyards connect to the varied working environments and include offices, open workstations, flexible work zones, and interactive conference rooms.  The office plan encourages interaction and contact across departments by establishing a variety of calculated environments that exist within the larger workspace: peaceful, activated, elegant or minimal.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Museum Store; Bentonville, Arkansas 
Marlon Blackwell Architect
The work of a local Arkansas basket maker, Leon Niehues, known for his sculpturally ribbed baskets made from young white oak trees from the Ozarks, provided the design inspiration for the museum store, located at the heart of the Moshe Safdie, FAIA, designed museum (2011) in Bentonville, Arkansas.  A series of 224 parallel ribs, made of locally harvested cherry plywood, were digitally fabricated directly from the firm’s Building Information Modeling delivery process.  Beginning at the top of the exterior glass wall, the ribs extend across the ceiling and down the long rear wall of the store. 

Illinois State Capitol West Wing Restoration; Springfield, Illinois 
Vinci Hamp Architects
The West Wing of the Illinois State Capitol is the second phase of a comprehensive renovation program of this 293,000-square-foot National Historic Landmark. Designed by French émigré architect Alfred Piquenard between 1868 and 1888, the Capitol represents the apogee of Second Empire design in Illinois.  Over the years inappropriate changes were made through insensitive modifications and fires.  The project mandate was to restore the exuberant architecture of the West Wing’s four floors and basement, while simultaneously making necessary life safety, accessibility, security and energy efficient mechanical, electrical, & plumbing system upgrades.   

Louisiana State Museum; Natchitoches, Louisiana 
Trahan Architects
The Louisiana State Museum merges historical and sports collections, elevating the experience for both.  Set in the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase on the banks of the Cane River Lake, the quiet yet innovative design reinterprets the geometry of the nearby plantation houses and the topography of the riverfront; between past and future. Spaces flow together to accommodate exhibits, education, event and support functions.  The hand-folded copper container contrasts with the digitally carved cast-stone entry and foyer within, highlighting the dialogue between the manmade and the natural.

National September 11 Memorial Museum; New York City
Davis Brody Bond
The 9/11 Memorial Museum is built upon the foundations of the Twin Towers, 70 feet below street level.  Visitors reach the museum via a gently sloped descent, a journey providing time and space for reflection and remembrance. Iconic features of the site, such as the surviving Slurry Wall, are progressively revealed.  This quiet procession allows visitors to connect to their own memories of 9/11 as part of the experience. Located at the site of the event, the museum provides an opportunity to link the act of memorialization with the stories, artifacts and history of that day.

Newport Beach Civic Center and Park; Newport Beach, California
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
The Newport Beach Civic Center and Park creates a center for civic life in this Southern California beachside community.  Nestled within a new 17-acre park, the City Hall is designed for clarity and openness. A long, thin building supporting a rhythmic, wave-shaped roof provides a light and airy interior, complemented by connections to outdoor program elements, a maritime palette, and commanding views of the Pacific Ocean. The project’s form and expression are generated by place and sustainability, as well as the City’s democratic values of transparency and collaboration.

2015 Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design

The jury for the 2015 Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design includes: Frank Fuller, FAIA, (Chair), Field Paoli; Karl Grice, AIA, Grice Group; Anne-Marie Lubenau, AIA, Bruner Foundation; Klaus Philipsen, FAIA, ArchPlan and Adam Thies, AICP, Director of the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development. 

Beijing Tianqiao (Sky Bridge) Performing Arts District Master Plan; Beijing, China
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Old Tianqiao was once a bustling hub of cultural activities and folk arts traditions ranging from storytelling, variety shows, acrobatics, and operas.  The project intends to reestablish the cultural heart of the capital with a collection of modern and traditional performance venues that respect the city’s sensitive, World Heritage context. An integrated design process across many disciplines laid out a series of environmental goals, including reintroducing the historic farm fabric, developing a storm water filtration system, reducing waste by using existing materials, and reducing automobile dependence and carbon footprint by creating walkable neighborhoods around three new subway stations. 

The BIG U; New York City
BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group
The BIG U is a 10-mile protective ribbon around lower Manhattan that addresses vulnerabilities exposed by Superstorm Sandy (2012). The BIG U consists of three components: BIG Bench, Battery Berm, and Bridging Berm.  BIG Bench is a continuous protective element adapted to the local context that mediates new and existing infrastructure.  The Battery Berm weaves an elevated path through the park, enhancing the public realm while protecting the Financial District and critical transportation infrastructure.  This signature building features a “reverse aquarium” that enables visitors to observe tidal variations and sea level rise.  The Bridging Berm rises 14 feet by the highways, connecting the coast and communities with greenways. 

Government Center Garage Redevelopment; Boston 
CBT Architects
The redevelopment of the Government Center Garage project is an example of undoing the ills of the 1960's urban renewal in Boston that critically separated six thriving neighborhoods.  The plan unlocks neighborhood connections, reopens urban vistas, and creates engaging public spaces by strategically removing a portion of the garage while preserving the remaining structure through creative phasing to provide for a sustainable and economically feasible redevelopment.  The project introduces 3 million square-feet of housing dominant mixed-use program to downtown, creating a dynamic 24-hour neighborhood as a model for sustainable, transit-oriented development.  The project also sets up a new position for urban design in Boston by shaping the urban form to respond to acute desire lines of a pre-grid city and promoting slender building typologies.