On December 6, in New York City, six jurors convened to parse the merits of the more than 250 projects submitted to AN‘s first annual Best Of Design Awards. The jury included Kate Orff, principal of SCAPE; Thomas Hanrahan, dean of architecture at the Pratt Institute and principal of Hanrahan Meyers Architects; Wes Rozen, principal, Situ Studio; Mic Patterson, partner, Enclos; Dan Wood, principal, WorkAC; and AN‘s own William Menking. Over the next six days we will be posting their selections in six categories, starting with Building Of The Year and moving through Best Facade, Best Interiors, Best Landscape, Best Fabrication Project, and Best Student Built Work. In each category the jury selected a winner and two honorable mentions. The one exception is Building Of The Year, which is a three-way tie.
Building of the Year: TIE
Vol Walker Hall & the Steven L Anderson Design Center
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
Marlon Blackwell Architect
Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects, Associate Architect
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“It’s beautiful. And a great place for architecture students to learn by example.” |
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This project involved the restoration of historic Vol Walker Hall and the addition of a new design center to provide a single facility for the university’s architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design programs. The addition improves accessibility and twin stairwells located at the juncture of the historic building deliver daylight and activity to the center of the complex.
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Building of the Year: TIE
Broadway Housing
Santa Monica, CA
Kevin Daly Architects
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“This is a very worthy project. It’s affordable housing, but it also provides wonderful social spaces for the residents.” —Thomas Hanrahan |
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This project provides 33 units of affordable housing to low-income families on the Westside of Los Angeles. The environmentally sustainable design—including a green roof, custom window shades, a vegetated screen wall, and a 15,000-gallon stormwater cistern—clusters repeatable housing blocks around a central courtyard with an existing shade tree.
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Project Resources: |
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Owner’s Representative |
Electrical Engineer |
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Building of the Year: TIE
Campbell Sports Center
Columbia University
Steven Holl Architects
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“Columbia really let loose with this project.” “It’s distinctive, but also draws on its gritty context.” |
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The architects derived this design from the ideal of the Columbia University student-athlete and the surrounding infrastructure. The building anchors the urban corner and its western arm is elevated to form a portal between the playing field and the streetscape. External stairs draw a metaphorical connection to the schemes of a coach’s playbook.
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Project Resources: |
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Construction Management |
Masonry, Stone, Tile |
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