OCTOBER 2022

AIA LA ’22 Conference on Architecture Awards Program

EskewDumezRipple

Center of Developing Entrepreneurs 

Charlottesville, VA

Program Statement:

This project is a new mixed-use project in the Downtown area of a small, but rapidly growing, northeastern city comprised of a new public plaza for the historic pedestrian mall and 215,000 sf of multi-use space, including a strategic combination of coworking, officespace, shared amenities, and retail.

Within the building, a variety of spaces support a vibrant community of entrepreneurs, thinkers, inventers, and artists. Two floors of coworking starting on the ground floor provide the foundation of this idea with hot desks, bookable conference rooms, common areas,and an extensive amenity area with coffee, culinary, and entrepreneurial shops intended to provide small businesses the resources they need to grow and flourish.

Based on the results of peer-reviewed research, a palette of low-emissions materials was employed, and the building ventilation system provides more than twice the standard flow of fresh air—but with an energy use 1/3 that of a typical office building. Design choices were similarly informed by ongoing assessment of the carbon emissions associated with the materials used for construction, helping the team lower the carbon footprint of the project even before the building opened.

Jury Comments:

The scale and gesture of the building integrates incredibly well with the context, and it successfully manages the constraints of its compact site.

-The detail and texture of the exterior façade is elegant and refined.

View Project Summary here

Bell Butler Design and Architecture

Politan Row at Colony Square

Atlanta, GA

Program Statement:

Politan Row at Colony Square is located in the heart of Atlanta in the namesake Colony Square mixed-use development. The designers had access to extensive visual archives from the original development that was designed in the mid 60s and completed in 1974 and were inspired by the forms, textures, and spaces. The location of the food hall is in the original food court, which is a low rise building surrounded by four high rise towers containing residences, offices, retail and other amenities.  ​

The space is organized with vendors ringing the perimeter anchored by a central bar and gridded wood ceiling. The ceiling is evocative of the space frame atrium that covered the original food court. During the redevelopment, a second floor was added above the food hall location eliminating much of the natural light allowed into the space.  A motif of gridded LED lighting at the ceiling helps mediate the elimination of the atrium by providing a consistent light plane above.  ​

Food halls tend to be busy places, and a banquette mirroring the ceiling clearly defines the circulation zone from the seating areas.  Domestic vignettes of seating provide some intimate, cozy areas amongst the bustle of the food hall.​

The material palette uses lots of wood and warm, earthy colors contrasted with muted blues. Many of the design features and materials reference vertical textures and grids which were directly inspired by process photos of the construction of the original Colony Square development. 

Jury Comments:

The soffits, furniture, arching lights, and details all tell the story of the design.

-Texture and light animate the space.

-The details and the materials work together throughout the entire design and create a very cohesive experience.

View Project Summary here

Grace Hebert Curtis Architects, APAC

Dr. John Ochsner Discovery Health Science Academy

Jefferson, LA

Program Statement:

The educational planning and design of the new Health Sciences Academy capitalizes on both the organization’s commitment to innovation and community building. The contemporary facility serves as a beacon for the surrounding neighborhood, featuring 21stCentury Learning Environments throughout five learning communities. Each community has its own unique identity and character via distinctive colors and wayfinding signage. Classrooms within the communities are organized in groups to foster collaboration and put learning on full display. Once fully enrolled, the STEM-focused charter school will educate approximately 700 pre-K through eighth-grade students.

Jury Comments:

-The accent colors, spacious daylit library, and thoughtful courtyard, all bring the school community to life.

- Simple spaces, like hallways, became innovative design solutions that created dynamic, vibrant spaces for

learning

View Project Summary here

Architects Beazley Moliere

Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center

Lafayette, LA

Program Statement:

The Animal Shelter needed a larger updated facility in order to provide better living conditions for animals, as well as a better experience for the general public. The warm and inviting Adoption Lobby creates a positive first impression which had been shown to increase animal adoptions. A 450 square-foot Education Center allows the shelter to host public training events and better educate the public on animal care. The new shelter not only holds more animals, but their housing areas are larger, have more natural light, and are easier to clean and maintain. The larger clinical areas with access to natural light allow for improved veterinary care. The site has multiple exercise yards and play areas for the animals as well as a landscaped retention pond surrounded by a walking path. Potential adopters can take dogs on a walk and get to know them before they take them home. The pond area is open to the general public and thereby doubles as a community park for local residents. The campus has two buildings separated by short covered walks.

The main building in front houses the Cat Condos, Lobby, Education Center, Clinical Areas, and Offices while the rear building houses all of the Dog Dorms.

The Dog Dorms and Cat Condos lay out in such a way that the public can safely wander through them without staff present. This allows the shelter to operate more efficiently and reduces wait times for people interested in adopting animals.

Jury Comments:

- The detailing was clean, crisp, and carefully done with complementary exterior materials and cute laser-cut animals in the lobby.

- The dynamic selection of materials was seamlessly orchestrated with refined detailing.

View Project Summary here

Waggonner & Ball Architecture/Environment

Charleston City Plan: Land & Water Analysis

Charleston, SC

Program Statement:

Building off the previous water planning processes and embedded within Charleston’s Comprehensive Plan, this urban planning study served as the analytic preface to a long term strategy for the City’s land use and flood mitigation planning.

The process began from the ground up with a study of fundamental aspects of land and water. The team mapped multiple types of water-based risk, from tide to rain to storm surge, and met with local communities and stakeholders to get an on-the-ground sense of flooding throughout the city. Watershed boundaries, not political boundaries, guided the analytical approach, sometimes requiring a view beyond City jurisdiction. The outcome of the analysis is four broad planning categories for the City and its citizens to weigh as it reimagines its future: grow, defend, adapt, and reserve.

With multiple flood risk mitigation projects on the horizon and an imperative to adapt vast swaths of Charleston’s built environment to ever changing flood risk, the need for an analytic framework to guide those tasks is crucial. The goal of this study is to create a way to see flood risk and opportunities to increase resiliency in Charleston that inform the next decade of change and beyond. 

Jury Comments:

 This mapping process and analysis provided strategies for future development that can be useful at many scales.

- Content rich information was beautifully organized and geared to make tangible change.

View Project Summary here

studioWTA

Audubon Pool

New Orleans

Program Statement:

Undertaken by the owner to add living space off the back of her raised historic home, this project transforms an existing, at-grade driveway into an elevated, urban oasis for the family. The design is driven by a raised swimming pool–constructed of cast-in-place concrete and fully supported by timber pilings–situated along the rear of the property and partially enclosed by a privacy wall on two sides. ​

The deck connecting the pool to the house is a low-slope membrane roof with concrete and wood tiles on a pedestal system, finished on the underside with corrugated, perforated white metal backlit by LED strip lighting. A steel frame pergola with heat treated wood slats provides shade to an outdoor kitchen, with an extension connecting the pergola to the house shading the new glass sliders. ​

Further bespoke elements include stainless steel shelves for art on the concrete wall, steel frame dining table, and built-in bench seating at both the kitchen/dining and along the edge of the terrace. An outdoor shower is tucked around a corner behind the kitchen. Tropical landscaping softens the concrete and adds lushness. 

Jury Comments:

- The pool and patio over a parking area was a thoughtful program added to the existing house.

- This was a very innovative solution to provide a house with additional program while being respectful to the existing.

- The design creates a nice separation between new and historic, celebrating both at the same time.

- The pergola, screening, and other details were carefully carried through the design, and even the underside of the deck was engaged in the design solution. 

View Project Summary here

John T. Campo & Associates, Inc. (Campo Architects)

The Grady Hotel

Louisville, KY

Program Statement:

Dating back to 1875, this historic structure was first developed for a medicinal bourbon apothecary, and later become home to a hat manufacturing company. After being converted to offices in the 1900’s, the building sat vacant on a prominent corner of downtown for many years.

At less than 30 feet wide, the slender footprint of this 5-story building was a challenge for development and required creative space planning to accommodate the new program. The historic Type IIIA construction was also a challenge for fireproofing the building to meet current code requirements.

Original historic finishes, including wood ceilings, plaster walls, wood wainscotting, and exposed brick were all carefully retained, repaired, and showcased throughout the hotel.

The hotel now stands as stunning example of historic preservation, seeped in the spirit of a city that both honors history and defies convention.

Jury Comments:

-This was an elegant restoration and drawing inspiration from original drawings from the historical building complements both the new and the old design.

- The layout in the narrow space works well, and the added effort of incorporating a new stair into the basement bar adds connection and value to the hotel's amenities.

View Project Summary Here

Trahan Architects

New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau Renovation

Program Statement:

Our firm was engaged to reinvent and replace the majority of a largely compromised building envelope for an existing 70,000 ft² headquarters office building located on a historic main street. The renovation was carefully orchestrated and phased to allow occupants to continue working within the five-story building during construction.

The existing interior office spaces were primarily artificially lit with limited views to the exterior environment. The design team used the opportunity of the building’s skin replacement to increase the glazing percentage in order to maximize natural daylight within the interior. A new, custom metal rainscreen system was developed to clad the building exterior thereby providing a high-performance, water-tight enclosure. The textured, stainless-steel finish of the rainscreen was selected in order to add color to the building – allowing the context, sky, trees and climactic conditions to change the reading of the building elevations throughout the day. To minimize solar heat gain and glare, a series of custom perforated louvers were designed to evoke a contemporary take on the historic shutters found throughout the city.

Jury Comments:

This design approached a single problem but used an innovative design that elevated the entire building’s presence.

- One design move was used consistently to unify a complex existing massing, resulting in a modern design statement that sets this building apart.

View Project Summary Here

NANO, LLC

Shaping the City

Venice, Italy

Program Statement:

Within the current crisis of global climate change, we are being forced to evaluate, reflect, and ask ourselves, “Are the geographies, economies, infrastructures, and societies of yesterday and today adaptable for the environments of tomorrow?” There is an ever more clear and urgent call to action, as our future is tied to one that moves beyond the sustainable to the resilient and regenerative. Sustaining being the attempt to survive, but as a species we are driven to move past mere reactive survival to proactive thriving. Shelter, health, and safety are inherent to a prosperous city. Maximizing opportunity and program – moving forward through a regenerative process that heals the damages of the past while constructing multipurpose nodes of public interaction and community support are the imageability essential to bridge the edge towards thriving. As architects our creativity and analytical minds are not limited by physical boundaries. We must position ourselves, however precariously on the precipice by challenging societal norms, existing geographical and economic limitations, to usher in solutions of a renewed age of design based upon intention and performance. We believe that cities are created by societies over time comprised over a vast history of culture, infrastructure, energy, human stories, and knowledge providing us a path forward, are worth keeping. 

Jury Comments:

- The presentation was analytical and thoughtful, and the proposed program and design concepts were inspiring.

- This project was forward thinking and inventive with the solutions that were proposed.

View Project Summary Here

Robert Brooks, AIA and

Louisiana Tech University

School of Design

Mosaic Art Cabin

Camp Alabama Choudrant, LA

Program Statement:

The design task was to create immersive experiences, foster creative expression

and amplify the joy of making within the timeless traditions of summer camp.

Drawing inspiration from the camp’s 25 year master plan, the project transformed

an abandoned cabin, purposefully reintegrating its presence within existing camp roads and walkways. The nature of the users and creative program led the team to an accessible, inclusive, and direct “mosaic” concept. Directly associated with the creative work, mosaics begin with humble and sometimes unrelated pieces that, when assembled, celebrate their diversity and collaboration. Individuality becomes an asset, reminding us that the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.

The floor plan, furniture, and storage solutions prioritize flexibility and utility, while a continuous mosaic spectrum of color links the string of interior and exterior spaces.

A breezeway and detached bathroom provide privacy, while substantial

fenestration allows for beautiful north light, clear circulation and functional program.

The custom trusses and playful columns are fabricated from reclaimed steel from

the oil and gas industry. Nearly 1,000 sf of reclaimed lumber, including formwork

used in the project, create a complimentary mosaic of natural texture and color on the ceiling and in the restroom.

At night the color spectrum radiates into camp, reminding campers of their time

there, and creating a unique beacon in the wooded landscape, adding to the magic and memory of this special place and community.

Jury Comments: 

-The design concept was evident in every detail, from beginning to end.

-The adaptation of the existing structure included a nice layout that accommodated the additional program of the bathroom in a separate mass.

-One of the highlights of the design is the elegant tectonic roof structure.

View Project Summary Here

Cassidy Rosen, Associate AIA, an architectural designer at Multistudio in New Orleans, received the AIA LA Associates Award at the American Institute of Architects Louisiana 2022 Conference on Architecture awards presentation, held in Gulf Shores on October 7.

As the volunteer co-chair of Women in Architecture (WIA) committee of New Orleans from 2019-2021, Cassidy raised the visibility of women in architecture by designing projects, events, and activities on a monthly basis while in a pandemic! Some of the notable projects were an educational forum on the Business of Architecture, a roundtable of FAIA Women of the Gulf Coast, and the AIA New Orleans Design + Practice Exchange Symposium (2020-2021).

Cassidy was a key team member on the Design + Practice Exchange Symposium in 2021, an intense event involving fundraising, logistical coordination, and more than a dozen speakers nationwide.

In addition, she has been actively involved in social justice work. She contributed to the design/build of the outdoor space of Ozanam Inn, a New Orleans homeless shelter and resource center. She served as a project coordinator for Edible Schoolyard New Orleans, and she is presently working with Youth Rebuilding New Orleans, Home by Hand, and the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority on affordable housing projects throughout the city.

The AIA Louisiana Associates Award is the highest award given to individual Associate AIA Louisiana members who exemplify the qualities of leadership and unparalleled commitment to an AIA component, the community, professional organizations, and/or the design and construction industries.

Regina Davis, AIA, lead project manager and architect at Trapolin Peer Architects in New Orleans, received the prestigious AIA LA Emerging Professionals Award at the American Institute of Architects Louisiana 2022 Conference on Architecture awards presentation, held in Gulf Shores on October 7.

Davis, of New Orleans, was a key team member in planning the AIA New Orleans Design + Practice Exchange Symposium in 2021, an intense event including fundraising, logistical coordination, and more than a dozen speakers nationwide.

She serves on the Board of AIA New Orleans as the Young Architect Forum Director and the co-chair of the Emerging Professionals Committee. In 2022, she successfully authored a College of Fellows grant for AIA New Orleans, one of only seven given from across the United States. She’s a member of the AIA New Orleans JEDI Committee and is a mentor for students at Tulane. She also participates in pro-bono and outreach programs for her firm.

The Emerging Professionals Award is given to individuals who have shown exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession in an early stage of their architectural career.

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