The 2008 Honor Awards for Washington Architecture
Thanks to all who helped make Perform/Transform a success! Below are the awarded project and juror comments. Be sure to check out all the projects. Post your thoughts/comments below.
Honor
| 7: Robert Hutchison and Sarah Biemiller | ||
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"This ambitious project is strongly located in a specific place and time, yet simultaneously entirely conceptual. Engaging history through the visceral evocation of memory, 7 repositions its context in a way that gives you immediate recall of its experience. Extracting two innate qualities of the existing environment – its post-and-beam structure and its wonderful quality of light – the work creates a new ephemeral structure that speaks to both but is neither. A great example of the integration of architecture and art, this conceptually ambitious project breathes life into the faded recent history of public art." |
Woodway Residence: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson |
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"The Woodway Residence preserves a structure with a strong heritage, but transforms it so completely that it has a new life programmatically and spatially that is better than the original. The architect’s reordering was fundamental in giving the house its next future. It's impressive that a wealthy client would take that older fabric and invest in it rather than tearing it down, a valuable sustainable agenda. This project stood out over newer houses because of its extra layer of complication and program." |
| SPL Library Montlake Branch: Weinstein AU | ||
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"This fine little building has a strong civic presence. It successfully integrates the varying scales of its neighborhood location, richly fulfilling the program of the community library. The simple spatial agenda, clarity of organization, and remarkable diversity of space render a civic building that, while not innovative in terms of its risk or ambition, is remarkably thorough and cleanly expressed. Examples include the discrete way benches and study tables are integrated with the façade to the thoughtful approach to parking needs." |
| EX3 Ron Sandwith Teen Center: Weinstein AU | ||
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"This project is distinguished by its strong conceptual approach to materials. Translucent flexible spaces complement the building’s heavy, durable core functions in a public space that is meant to evolve over time; demountable partitions and large connecting garage doors allow ultimate flexibility as demands on the building change. Creative use of a small budget honors the teen users with a casual and accommodating space. Of particular note is the naturally daylit gymnasium. |
Merit
| Noah’s Ark: Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen | ||
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The creativity and sheer joy of this project make it remarkably convincing. Material inventiveness shapes the fresh but recognizable expression of the animals, creating an environment that can engage children on a variety of levels. |
Gym: E. Cobb Architects |
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"This renovation of a national landmark building smartly nests a series of living spaces in a small two-story envelope. In the context of the modernist white cube, this consciously executed concept deals with its language appropriately, successfully rethinking its structure. The end result, while coming up short in terms of total concept, is comfortable and well resolved, evidencing an architect and client easy in their working relationship." |
Envelope House: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson |
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Livable infill multi-family housing is hard to do, but has acquired a level of urgency in a growing region. This project makes the most of its steep, narrow site, interlocking three units that successfully exploit light, view and context. Features like straightforward materials and inexpensive siding detail are very well worked out. While the triplex relates to the jumble of styles in this hillside neighborhood, it doesn’t resort to replication. The project demonstrates how designers can deal with the issue of compactness to expand valuable real estate in Seattle. |
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Kitsap County Administration Building: The Miller |
"Work of this quality is unusual in a government building. Its civic presence, openness, simplicity and materiality combine in a high quality public building. Jurors noted the simple, resolved massing, the original, sophisticated detailing, and the purposeful imperfection in the formwork. The submission would have been enhanced by inclusion of a plan." |
Commendation
| Agnes Lofts: Weinstein AU | ||
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"As the emerging dominant type of development in Seattle, this sort of mixed-use urban building is an important part of the city’s sustainability strategy. This example is clean and articulate; of particular note are the organization of the plan, the way the building adds to urban life on the street, and the integration with the existing building. The design deals with the everyday with a great deal of discipline." |
| 56 Piles: E. Cobb Architects | ||
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"These units embrace a remarkable degree of possibility by treating the garage as potentially transformative space. The car space is smartly positioned and incredibly flexible, looking forward to a time when the owners see more value in a studio, live-work or party space than in car culture. Despite their difficult site, the units are well resolved, offering a unique model for multi-family development." |
| Terry Thomas: Weber Thompson | ||
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"This building is innovative in the quality of its interior spaces and its forward-thinking relationship to energy use. The quality of daylight in the interior spaces is particularly unique for an office environment, and provides flexibility in the case of future energy limitations." |
| Banner Gateway Medical Center: NBBJ | ||
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"The hospital is a hard typology, presenting architects with a series of difficult hurdles that are completely distinct from those of the vanity house. This project reflects the degree to which architecture can transform human experience. The extensive use of daylight, the relationship of interior and exterior spaces, the powerful public spaces, and the fresh design approach offer a direct reward to people at a time of tremendous stress." |
Citation
| VO Shed- atelierjones | ||
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"This project is a delightful reimagining of one of those small necessities in cities that are largely unplanned and executed without thought. This postindustrial analog to the nineteenth century fully, which makes something of such an unlikely program, represents a wonderful urban opportunity, bringing poetic attention to the extremely utilitarian." |
| Bumper Crop: The Miller Hull Partnership |
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"The very ubiquity of the suburban parking lot makes it ripe for rethinking. This project inventively co-opts the domain of the automobile for a variety of higher uses, from food production to civic space." |
People's Choice
The public was invited to vote for favorite projects in each category. The winners are below.
Built
Orca's Stage on the Green: David Kau and Fred Klein
Unbuilt
Mini Mart City Park: SuttonBeresCuller
