2013 BIA Award Winners Honored for Best in Brick Design

The Brick Industry Association has honored stunning architecture that incorporates fired clay brick. With new categories this year, including Renovation/Restoration, the 2013 Brick in Architecture Awards span almost half the country in 21 states, including green building practices that have earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings.

"Fired clay brick offers unmatched style and substance," says BIA President and CEO Gregg Borchelt, P.E. "It offers the aesthetic flexibility to match the architect's imagination and desires, along with sustainable design, unmatched durability and many benefits from its physical properties."

The 2013 Brick in Architecture Award winners include Best in Class, Gold, Silver and Bronze categories. Best in Class winners include:

BEST IN CLASS
Commercial
Farm Credit Services of America Corporate Office Building 2  Omaha, Nebraska
Architect: The Clark Enersen Partners
Landscape Architect: The Clark Enersen Partners
Builder: Sampson Construction
Mason Contractor: D C Masonry Inc.
Photographer: Scholzimages

Educational (Higher Education)
University of Pennsylvania Law School
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Architect: Kennedy & Violich Architecture, Ltd
Landscape Architect: Richard Burck Associates, Inc
Builder: Hunter Roberts Construction Group
Manufacturer: The Belden Brick Company
Manufacturer 2: Glen-Gery Corporation
Distributor: Diener Brick Company
Mason Contractor: Dan LePore and Sons
Photographer: Halkin Architectural Photography

Educational (K-12)
New Settlement Community Campus
Bronx, New York
Architect: Dattner Architects
Landscape Architect: MKW + Associates
Associate Architect: Edelman Sultan Knox Wood / Architects
Builder: Turner Construction Company
Manufacturer: The Belden Brick Company
Mason Contractor: Mastercraft Masonry I, Inc
Photographer: David Sundberg
 
Health Care
Hendricks Regional Health YMCA  Avon, Indiana
Architect: American Structurepoint, Inc.
Landscape Architect: Context, LLC
Builder: Skillman Corporation
Distributor: Edgewood Building Supply
Mason Contractor: Purdy Masonry, Inc.
Photographer: Susan Fleck Photography
Photographer 2: Tony Frederick Photography
Owner: Hendricks Regional Health and YMCA of Greater Indianapolis
MEP Engineer: Korda Nemeth

Houses of Worship
Kent R. Hance Chapel  Lubbock, Texas
Architect: McKinney York Architects
Manufacturer: Acme Brick
Mason Contractor: Western Builders
Photographer: Dror Baldinger
 
Municipal / Government
Fountaindale Public Library District  Bolingbrook, Illinois
Architect: Nagle Hartray Architecture
Landscape Architect: Wolff Landscape Architecture Inc.
Builder: Power Construction
Manufacturer: The Belden Brick Company
Distributor: Illinois Brick Company
Mason Contractor: Ramcorp
Photographer: Ballogg Photography
Photographer 2: Richard Lanenga Photography (aerial photo)

Paving & Landscape Architecture
Pierce's Park Baltimore, Maryland
Architect: Mahan Rykiel Associates, Inc.
Builder: P. Flanigan & Sons, Inc.
Manufacturer: Whitacre Greer Co.
Mason Contractor: Priority Construction Corp.
Photographer: Mahan Rykiel

Renovation/Restoration
Warren Cultural Center  Greenfield, Iowa 
Architect: INVISION Planning Architecture Interiors
Builder: Lang Construction Group, Inc.
Manufacturer: Glen-Gery Corporation
Mason Contractor: Seedorf Masonry

Residential – Multi-Family
Gables 12 Twenty One  Arlington, Virginia
Architect: The Preston Partnership
Builder: Gables Residential
Manufacturer: Glen-Gery Corporation
Distributor: Capital Brick & Tile, Inc.
Mason Contractor: Diverse Masonry
Photographer: Donna H Chiarelli Studio

Residential – Single Family
French Normandy Guest House  Greenwich, Connecticut
Architect: Charles Hilton Architects
Builder: Home Construction, LLC
Mason Contractor: Mauro Fidaleo Construction, LLC
Photographer: Nicholas Rotondi Photography
Photographer 2: Woodruff-Brown Photography
Photographer 3: Scott Francis, LTD

Projects were submitted by architectural and design firms around the country, and judged by a jury of their peers. Photos and project details for all winners: www.gobrick.com/architectureawards
 
Founded in 1934, the Brick Industry Association (BIA) is the nationally recognized authority on clay brick construction representing the nation's distributors and manufacturers of clay brick and suppliers of related products. Website: www.gobrick.com/703-620-0010.

A First: Precast Network Arch Bridge in Texas

The world’s first precast network arch bridge is changing the landscape of downtown Fort Worth, Texas, as the first two of 12 arches were recently placed. The W. 7th Street bridge is the first-of-its-kind and will serve as a gateway to the city’s cultural district where buildings designed by luminaries such as Louis Khan, Tado Ando and Renzo Piano line the landscape.

  

“The 7th Street bridge design and construction techniques are further examples of Texas leading the way in innovation,” says Texas Department of Transportation Executive Director Phil Wilson. “In addition to being an architectural and engineering landmark for the city of Fort Worth, this precast network arch bridge is a safe, sound and high-quality structure that will benefit both motorists and businesses.”

The new $26 million W. 7th Street bridge, which replaces its 100-year-old predecessor, is a unique and beautiful design that offers much more pedestrian access. With its series of sculpted network arches and unique, modern architecture, the new bridge serves as the entrance to the city’s vibrant downtown and cultural district.

“This elegant and sophisticated signature bridge will spotlight Fort Worth, the nation’s 16th largest city and growing,” says Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price. “It’s going to be a beautiful asset for the city.”

TxDOT has a long history of building durable, high-strength, precast concrete bridges quickly and at costs that consistently rank among the least in the nation. The innovative design of the Fort Worth bridge met the challenges of quick construction, aesthetic beauty and improved mobility and safety while also providing a large hydraulic opening to mitigate flood conditions.

“The idea was to turn to our successes in precast technology and mass production - only, we knew we wanted something more attractive for the W. 7th Street bridge,” says TxDOT Structural Engineer Dean Van Landuyt. “Aesthetics were paramount. We tried to do something worthy of the great buildings and great architects who have worked in the city.”

The contractor, Sundt Construction Inc. of San Antonio, began work more than a year ago with little to no impact on motorists and businesses. The arches were constructed at a nearby casting yard donated by Chesapeake Energy. Each arch is 163.5 feet long and weighs 300 tons. Within the arch, there is a network of stainless steel hangers with clevises and tie-beam connections that protect pedestrians from traffic on the bridge while allowing both motorists and pedestrians to enjoy a nearly unobstructed view of the river. This new construction method is expected to result in seven fewer months of bridge closure compared to a typical 12 months or more using traditional methods.

This spring, all 12 arches will be transported and set on columns located beside the original bridge before it is closed and removed. During the summer, traffic on the bridge will be detoured onto an adjacent city street while the precast beams and deck panels are set, followed by a concrete slab and stainless steel hand rails.

The project is scheduled for completion in Fall 2013.

Bilco Releases Architectural Products Catalog

The Bilco Co. has released its 2012 Architectural Products Catalog, detailing the company’s line of roof hatches, automatic fire vents, floor, vault and sidewalk doors and safety products for the commercial markets. 

The Architectural Products Catalog features information on Bilco’s new fall protection grating system, which provides a permanent means of fall protection for the company’s line of floor access doors. The system meets OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.23 requirements and is available as a factory installed option or in retrofit kits for field installation.

Bilco’s new fall protection system is constructed of light-weight aluminum grating with type 316 stainless steel hardware for corrosion resistance. The grating panel is supplied with a safety yellow powder coat finish, making it more durable, attractive, and extremely scratch-resistant. The system also features an automatic hold-open device that secures each panel in the full 90-degree position, maximizing the door’s usable access area.

The catalog is available free by calling 800-366-6530 or emailing commercial@bilco.com. 

Georgia Wins Eleven Regional Design Awards

The South Atlantic Region (SAR) Design Awards were announced at the Woodruff Arts Center recently in Atlanta. Eleven entries from Georgia were recognized among the 21 awards granted that night. The award submissions were juried on Aug. 10 in Seattle. AIA South Atlantic Region Executive Director, David Crawford, Jewel Warlick with the Brick Industry Southeast and SAR Design Awards Chair, Dennis Stallings, AIA, were hosted in the office of the jury Chair David Miller, FAIA at the Miller Hull Partnership. The jury considered 165 SAR Entries along with 12 Brick submissions. David Miller, FAIA was joined on the jury by Scott Wolf, FAIA, Kirsten Murray, AIA, Susan Jones, FAIA, and Rick Zieve, FAIA.

Winners from Georgia Include:

 

Brick Honor Award - Southern Polytechnic State University, Architectural School Addition - Cooper Carry, Inc.  Brick Manufacturer:  Endicott Clay Products.  The new 14,600-square-foot 'Design II' Architecture Studio addition at Southern Poly houses the Department of Architecture's second year design studios. The building's exterior materials are primarily brick and composite metal panels and also incorporated glazed walls that encourage natural day lighting. The south façade includes four brick walls that face the primary pedestrian circulation route. The façade orients east-west, so that the movement of the sun casts dramatic shadows and changes the visual effect of the patterning.

Honor Award - 1315 Peachtree Street - Perkins+Will. This renovation of a 1986 office building addresses the challenges of creating a living laboratory and educational tool that reflects the firm's environmental commitment to its staff, clients and community, and its on-going pursuit of design excellence and its value to society. The building had to reflect these values by meeting the highest levels of sustainability, by allowing their employees to work in an interdisciplinary, integrated manner by fostering creative, inspiring design, and by serving as a "living lab." The project's goal is to achieve the highest LEED Platinum Certification and meet the 2030 Challenge. The jury noted that the rational and unadorned architecture will stand the test of time.

Honor Award - Benjamin E. Mays High School - Perkins+Will. This project represents a total transformation of a 1980's comprehensive high school into a newly renovated 350,000 square foot facility designed as part of Atlanta Public Schools transformation program to build career-based academies. The north and south perimeter areas of the school were completely gutted and replaced with classrooms to house the desired four career academies. With the gym and auditorium remaining in place, the central core of the school was totally demolished and replaced by new construction that houses the school's shared facilities: a new two-story media center, two-story cafeteria, and new science rooms.  The jury noted powerful spatial interplay, with almost all spaces washed with balanced natural light to minimize the need for artificial lighting.

  

 Honor Award - SCAD Museum of Art - Sottile & Sottile and Lord, Aeck & Sargent in association with Dawson Architects.   The SCAD Museum of Art is a new 82,000-square-foot contemporary art and design museum, which reinvigorates the ruins of a 19th century railroad freight warehouse. The dazzling architectural program features exhibition galleries, a theater and classrooms, as well as urban streetscape improvements and a vibrant courtyard. This landmark project is guided by an architectural philosophy of contrast on all scales-preserving the beauty of the site's industrial grandeur with a design language rooted in simplicity and clarity. The jury felt this sensitive renewal represented a fine civic project noting the ancient shell forms a container for dynamic, contemporary spaces.   

  

Merit Award - Mark Jefferson Science Project - Lord, Aeck & Sargent.  This addition to the Mark Jefferson Science Complex at Eastern Michigan University artfully knits together three functionally and visually disparate, aging science buildings. It creates a science terminus to a major pedestrian mall and a new image for the university and science programs from multiple prominent campus entry points - each containing all new infrastructure and allowing renovation of the existing buildings to be phased without disruption to teaching. The complex integrates and displays science, teaching and research to the university community and incorporates multiple strategies to enhance visibility of sustainability (sunshades, green roofs, rain gardens, and energy monitoring).  The jury noted that the labs are highly transparent creating the idea of science on display.  

 

Merit Award - Rehabilitation of the Hinman Research Building - Lord, Aeck & Sargent. Originally designed by P.M. Heffernan, the Hinman Research Building is the first freestanding research facility on Georgia Tech's campus. Characterized by its mid-century design and materials and a 50-foot high-bay laboratory, the building was rehabilitated and transformed into a flexible new annex for Georgia Tech's College of Architecture. The building is now home to graduate level architecture studios, computer, interdisciplinary research and high fidelity simulation labs, administrative offices, galleries and event space. It was designed to house the Georgia Tech Engineering Experiment Station, the first and flagship facility of a system of engineering experiment stations that paralleled its agricultural counterpart.  The jury noted that this was not just a preservation project. The design elevates the brut reality of the former industrial shed into a powerful volume that invites invention and creativity and a living laboratory for students of architecture.

 

Merit Award - D.M. Therrell High School - Perkins+Will. This project renovates and replaces an existing 1,200 student high school while re-organizing it into three Academic Academies for Atlanta Public Schools. The solution opens and clarifies the organizational diagram by carefully placing new program elements between existing, framing a new courtyard that transforms the life of the school both functionally and experientially. The jury noted all spaces receive abundant amounts of natural daylight, with the architectural expression supporting a more transparent and sustainable solution. What once was an internalized and inefficient building is now an academic campus designed for student success.

Merit Award - Herman Miller Los Angeles Showroom - tvsdesign. The client, an international furniture manufacturer based in west Michigan, renewed its presence in Los Angles with a new 18,000-square-foot showroom that reflects the company's commitment to forward thinking, problem solving design and environmental stewardship. A former warehouse built in 1956, the facility's  bowstring trusses and significant potential were intriguing both to the client and the architectural/interior design team. The result of the collaboration includes a space that offers dynamic spatial flow for the company's solution portfolio with room for multiple product configurations, knowledge display and hospitality for groups ranging from intimate gatherings to large audience events.  The jury noted the wonderful play of new against old where interventions are held under and away from the structure.

Merit Award - Nancy Creek Guesthouse - Philip Babb Architect. The Nancy Creek Guesthouse & Swimming Pool provide guest quarters and outdoor entertainment space to a mid-century modern home in Atlanta.  The new additions were placed on a 60- X 120-foot site that was occupied by an unused tennis court.  Each element of the design was carefully positioned to enhance its relationship to the existing house and the movement of the sun. The jury noted the simple open volume and clerestory that opens the structure to the tree canopy and outdoors.

Merit Award - Hotel Indigo - Surber Barber Choate & Hertlein Architects.  Hotel Indigo is a 130 room green boutique hotel situated on the edge of Athens' downtown historic district. The eco-chic design sensitively integrates the building and the associated guest arrival/parking experience into the sloping site and creatively adapts local vernacular style and materials into a decidedly modern aesthetic. The jury noted the European feel and straightforward contemporary architecture.

Merit Award - Davis Hall, Syracuse University - Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects. Ernie Davis Hall is the first residential project at Syracuse University in over thirty years. As such, the new hall of 250 beds enhances the quality of life of the students, participates in the general sustainability of the campus and improves a previously underutilized site. It completes the block, invigorates the life of the sidewalk and street and addresses the scale of buildings to the west. It improves connectivity and a distinct but compatible architecture complements a campus of great architectural diversity.  The  jury noted the raw and edgy spaces that are well suited to the programmatic uses.

EwingCole Expands Leadership Team

EwingCole, an architecture, engineering and interior design firm, has expanded its leadership team in its Washington, D.C., office. “EwingCole’s culture is one of continuous growth as we recognize the importance of a renewed vision with a focus on delivering significant customer benefits,” says Mark Hebden, EwingCole’s president. “Each of these individuals brings to EwingCole years of experience, a commitment to service and a complementary set of talents to their new positions that will continue our growth and presence in the market.”

As managing principal of the Washington office, Patrick Brunner, RA, is responsible for project management and the office’s administrative functions. Brunner has more than 30 years of experience in the design and coordination of both new and renovation projects. Promoted from team leader, Brunner has worked on the firm’s most complex projects, including those for Geisinger Health System, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Cornell University and Princeton Theological Seminary. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Brunner is an active member of the Society of College and University Planners and the Association of College and Research Libraries.

Serving as the director of business development for EwingCole’s Washington office is Andrea Zeitman Adamson. Adamson will lead the firm’s growth efforts in the academic, healthcare and workplace markets. Adamson previously worked with Costello Construction of Maryland, implementing strategies that contributed to the company’s increased revenue. A graduate of George Washington University and New England School of Law, Adamson is a member of the American Bar Association and the D.C. Chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women.