AIA Maine is pleased to announce the winners of our 2020 AIA Maine Design Awards program.

Out of 63 total submissions, the jury ultimately chose 15 projects from Single Family Residential, Institutional & Commercial, Renovation & Adaptive Reuse, Small Projects under $250,000, Unbuilt, and Student categories.

This year’s Wisconsin-based jury, included Allen Washatko, a principal at the Kubala Washatko Architects (TKWA); David Black, principal at Flad Architects; Jim Shields, principal at HGA; John Vetter, principal at Vetter Architects; Nick Carnahan, principal at Galbraith Carnahan Architects (GCA); and Ursula Twombly, formerly a principal at Continuum Architects and Planners.

Here are the projects that took the honors.

The Far Cabin embraces surrounding natural beauty with delicate respect for the site. Weathering beams spring from the rising ledge, gently carrying the cabin over boulders and mossy terrain. The building is designed to capture natural light patterns sweeping through the space, reflecting the playful relationship between nature and structure.

Jury Comments: In addition to the thoughtful siting and blended integration of the building onto the site, we were impressed by the Far Cabin’s size. In just 570 square feet of shelter, the project achieves all the “architecture” of its much larger residential competitors.

  

Consultant Team: Richardson & Associates, Landscape Architect. Albert Putnam Associates, Structural Engineer. Photographer: Jeff Roberts

The genesis of this project stems, as is true for most of our projects, from a desire to understand and work within the context of site conditions and constraints, both externally applied, and self-imposed.

Architectural Team: Matt Elliott, AIA: Principal JT Loomis: Project Architect Buzzy Cyr: Draftsperson Maggie Kirsch: Draftsperson Elise Schelhase: Draftsperson

Jury Comments: This was a mutually loved project by the jury. “Wow. That is a nice project” was the first comment uttered. Of particular note is the manner in which the imposing size of the project was broken up on the site creating a strong connection to the sea. The clarity of the plan jumps off the page at you and the material choices of the exterior help to synthesize the building with its setting.

General Contractor: Jon D. Woodward & Sons. Consultant Team: Thornton Tomasetti / Becker Structural Engineers : Structural Engineer. Peter Knuppel Lighting Design: Lighting Designer. Richardson & Associates: Landscape Architect. Photographer: Trent Bell Photography

HONOR AWARD / SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL



In the Dunes

CALEB JOHNSON STUDIO

Project Architect: Caleb Johnson AIA

New construction of a single-family residence in a frontal dune and flood zone. The building is raised on piles to allow for flow-through should the property flood. The house is an intermediary between the shingle style home to one side and the single story one-room beach cottages on the other.

 

Architectural Team: David Duncan Morris AIA, Director of Design. Darel Gabriel Bridges, Architectural Designer. Caleb Johnson AIA, Principal.

Jury Comments: In The Dunes embraces its site through the careful selection of colors and materials. Typically, when the primary floor of a home is raised above the ground level, the the entry space is often dark and uninviting. However this project handles that issue with gracefulness. In fact, the transition from the ground level up to the mass of the building is one of its most delightful moments.

General Contractor: Chase Construction. Consultant Team: Chase Construction, Builder. The Webhannet Company, Millwork. Revision Energy, Energy Consulting/Solar. Richardson & Associates, Landscape Architect. Salmon Falls, Landscape Installation. Greg Day Lighting, Lighting. White Knuckle Kustoms, Metal Work. Pinnacle Window Solutions, Window Supplier. Photographer: Trent Bell

HONOR AWARD / SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL



Retreat on a Pond's Edge

ELLIOTT + ELLIOTT ARCHITECTURE

Project Architect: Isaac Robbins

A quiet retreat at the edge of a Maine pond.

Architectural Team: Matt Elliott, AIA: Principal. Isaac Robbins: Project Architect

Jury Comments: The Retreat on a Pond’s Edge was compelling for the way that it delicately placed itself in the forest. A large project, this structure carefully contorted itself between trees, rocks, and views out to the pond. The project approach sequence along the boardwalk was particularly moving and likened to a Richard Serra sculpture.

General Contractor: Acorn Builders of Maine. Consultant Team: Thornton Tomasetti / Becker Structural Engineers: Structural Engineer. Stephen Peck Design Consultation: Interior Designer. Landscape Installation: Sprague's Nursery & Garden Center. Photographer: Trent Bell Photography.

HONOR AWARD / INSTITUTIONAL & COMMERCIAL

Parris Terraces

KAPLAN THOMPSON ARCHITECTS

Project Architect: Jesse Thompson AIA

Parris Terraces was designed to create compact but light-filled city apartments for people making up to 120% of median income, in a location where workforce housing is hard to come by. Sustainable features including air sealing methods for the building envelope, wood-framing, heat pumps, and an onsite stormwater filtering system.

Architectural Team: Adam Wallace, Project Manager Ben Bailey, Project Designer

Jury Comments: Parris Terraces is a striking project and was a favorite among the judges. Its simple and restrained forms are complimented by the subtle treatment of the siding and the careful arrangement of fenestration. We were equally impressed that such quality workforce housing could be delivered without subsidy.

General Contractor: Hebert Construction. Consultant Team: Structural Integrity, Ransom Consulting. Photographer: Trent Bell 

HONOR AWARD / RENOVATION & ADAPTIVE REUSE

80 Exchange

BRIBURN

Project Architect: Chris Briley 

The owners of 80 Exchange St. wished to transform the building from one that has been negatively modified over the past decades, to one that has leveraged its historic character, and integrated modern design and technologies to give it new life for decades more while enhancing its streetscape and community.

Architectural Team: Ian Parlin, Senior Project Manager, Lucas Greco, Project Designer.

Jury Comments: This historic rehabilitation preserved a gorgeous façade on the exterior and created a striking modern office on the interior. Both aspects of the project were award worthy.  Of particular note on the interior was the detail of how the linear light fixture slides out of the wood ceiling to engage the gypsum ceiling around the perimeter.

General Contractor: Warren Construction Group. Consultant Team: Ripcord Engineering, Mechanical and Plumbing Engineering. L & L Structural Engineering, Structural Engineering. Photographer: Irvin Serrano Photography 

MERIT AWARD / SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL

Blackwood House

KAPLAN THOMPSON ARCHITECTS

Project Architect: Jesse Thompson AIA

Tucked into the woods, our client wanted a low-maintenance structure that would age into the forest, where every material used was exposed in its true form. This house is modern and sleek, yet roughhewn. Fine woodworking, large strategically placed windows, and renewables all come together in function and form.

Architectural Team: Sam Funari AIA, Project Designer.

Jury Comments: The “fossil fuel-free” aspect of the Blackwood House is its most notable achievement. The focus on the home’s carbon and energy impact on the planet, while still delivering a compelling residence was commendable.

General Contractor: Benjamin & Company. Consultant Team: M2 Structural Engineering. Photographer: Irvin Serrano.

Merit Award / Renovation & Adaptive Reuse

Sortwell Chandlery

WHITTEN ARCHITECTS

Will Fellis AIA

The historic Chandlery has been a family retreat since the early 1900s. Rising sea levels triggered a full-scale relocation, renovation, and addition, which was sensitively developed to retain the existing character and materials of the waterside structure, and meet the ongoing needs for the family's next 200 years.

Architectural Team: Will Fellis AIA, Project Architect. Rob Whitten AIA, Founding Principal.

Jury Comments: The Sortwell Chandlery is a truly admirable effort to save an endangered structure. We commend the architect on the heroic measures taken to save the building, with the subtle and surgical ways that it was altered to serve the family for the next 200 years.

General Contractor: Pearson Construction Consultant Team: Albert Putnam Associates, Structural Engineer. Soren Denoird Landscape Architecture, Landscape Architect. Walsh Engineering Associates, Inc., Site and Civil Engineer. Photographer: Trent Bell Architectural Photography

MERIT AWARD / INSTITUTIONAL & COMMERCIAL

Wescustogo Hall and North Yarmouth Community Center

BARRETT MADE

Project Architect: Matthew Ahlberg AIA

The design for the Wescustogo Hall and North Yarmouth Community Center called for a 20,000sf net-positive community center for the Town of North Yarmouth, Maine replacing a beloved grange hall lost to fire in 2013. The building provides flexible civic, social, creative and athletic space for the growing community.

Jury Comments: One juror summed up our amazement on this project succinctly. “They took THAT and made a building out of it!” The fact that the building was the only Net Positive project among the competition was also noteworthy and in keeping with the spirit of doing a lot with a little.

General Contractor: Rob Barrett, Barrett Made. Consultant Team: Casco Bay Engineering, Structural Engineering. Ripcord Engineering, Mechanical and Plumbing Engineering. Revision Energy, PV/Sustainability. Photographer: Erin Little Photography 

MERIT AWARD / UNBUILT

Flyleaf

SMRT ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS

Flyleaf is a modular book-sharing structure designed to be easily deployed at sites around the world ranging from urban to rural. The structure provides protected book shelving, bike racks, and shaded seating. The goal is to encourage reading in community spaces and ensure accessibility for all.

Jury Comments: The Flyleaf project is more than a “not yet built” project. It’s an exploration and demonstrates a playfulness and inventiveness that we should all aspire to in our work. It would be a memorable experience to stumble upon one of these actually constructed in a park somewhere.

Architectural Team: Ashley Lepre, Architectural Designer. Brad Baker AIA, Architect. Lodrys Gomez, Architectural Designer. Scott Pakulski, Architectural Designer. Philip Chaney AIA, Architect.

CITATION AWARD / INSTITUTIONAL & COMMERCIAL

The Aviary - Staff Housing for The Wavus Camp for Girls

44 NORTH ARCHITECTS

Project Architect: Tor Glendinning AIA

How do you maintain continuity in design and seem appear different at the same time? Three structures juxtaposed and connected by a meandering wood deck allows the staff residents to feel connected to each other while offering them three distinct places to nest.

Architectural Team: Tor Glendinning AIA, Principal Architect. Jennifer Wais, Technical/Drafter.

Jury Comments: In addition to the symphony of wood used on the project, the most interesting aspect was the framework for community that the project created. The spaces between and around the buildings are varied and delightful.  

General Contractor: Laukka Construction, Inc. Consultant Team: Lincoln Haney Engineers, Structural Engineer. Gartley & Dorsky Surveying and Engineering Associates. Photographer: Carl Frank 

CITATION AWARD / INSTITUTIONAL & COMMERCIAL

Lumber Products Office Building

SCOTT SIMONS ARCHITECTS

Project Architect: Ryan Kanteres AIA

The headquarters of a seventh-generation Maine lumber company, the building is designed as a modern workspace which supports collaboration while responding to ecological and economic context. Using vernacular forms, the project incorporates transparency and meaningful outdoor spaces to bridge the connection between the adjacent timberlands and bustling lumber mill.

Architectural Team: Scott Simons AIA, Principal. Adam Wiles-Rosell, Architectural Designer.

Jury Comments: This project was compelling in that it utilized the products of the company to showcase the potential of wood. The sequence of ascending the monumental wood stair to the light filled central atrium is magical.

General Contractor: Zachau. Consultant Team: Chris Williams, Thornton Tomasetti, Structural Engineer. Photographer: Ryan Bent Photography 

CITATION AWARD / RENOVATION & ADAPTIVE REUSE

Maine Plastic Surgery

CHA CONSULTING, INC.

Project Architect: Ann Fontaine-Fisher AIA

A boutique clinical practice with spa services and clinical plastic surgery services called for an elegant yet functional space that radiated warmth, sophistication and therapeutic confidence. Designers created an interior aesthetic that married modern elegance with industrial touches while focusing on efficient movement of patients and staff throughout the practice.

Architectural Team: Ann Fontaine-Fisher AIA, LEED AP BD+C; Pamela Anderson, Interior Designer; and Dylan Lawton, Architectural Designer.

Jury Comments: This clinic struck a serene and Zen like quality on the interior. The focus on views and daylighting for the offices and patient rooms was commendable and demonstrated a respect for patients.

General Contractor: Hebert Construction, LLC

CITATION AWARD / UNDER $250,000

K Camp

WMH ARCHITECTS

Project Architect: William M. Hanley AIA + Heli T. Mesiniemi AIA

K Camp is a reconstruction and re-envisioning of a shorefront camp on Long Pond on Mount Desert Island, Maine. K Camp sits quietly on the shore and echoes the unique sense of place in the footprint of the former original 1920s structure with Acadia National Park as the backdrop.

Jury Comments: K Camp was recognized for its significant restraint as a project. Not seeking to conquer its stunning setting, the cabin sits quietly on the footprint of the former structure and embraces the context. Contemplative and calm, it provides a simple uncompetitive platform from which to view the water and adjacent park.

General Contractor: Brian D. Shaw Inc. Bar Harbor, ME. Consultant Team: Michael Gillis, LA | Landscape Architect | Acadia Landscape + Design. Albert Putnam, PE | Structural Engineer | Albert Putnam Associates, LLC. Photographer: William Hanley.

MERIT AWARD / STUDENT

Distribution

UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT AUGUSTA, ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM

Project Designer: Nicole Cyr

A medical office consisting of labs and medical office suites is designed for the waterfront of Charlestown, MA. In an ever-changing world of innovation, learning, and climate; the design allows for durability, flexibility, adaptability, redundancy, and communal connections. Each workspace contributes to a whole yet can stand on its own.

Studio Professor: Paul Fowler

Jury Comments: We were impressed by the thoroughness of the Distribution student project and its strength in exploring connectivity. From concept, to plan drawings, to tectonic details, it was all there. Not many students think as cohesively about a building as this project. It is both imaginative and constructible.

Please see the June issue of Maine Home + Design for full coverage of these impressive projects.

And stay tuned for:

Wednesday, September 16th, 2020

5:30 PM 8:30 PM

Halo at the Point

Thompsons Point

Portland, ME

Thank you to everyone who submitted to our 2020 AIA Maine Design Awards program.



Thank you to our 2020 AIA Maine Design Awards Sponsors

Platinum

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Paul White Company

Richardson & Associates

Swaney Lighting Associates