Manchester, NH – The American Institute of Architects New Hampshire Chapter (AIANH) recently announced the recipients of its 2012 Excellence in Architecture Design Awards, the highest recognition of works that exemplify excellence in overall design, including aesthetics, clarity, creativity, appropriate functionality, sustainability, building performance, and appropriateness with regard to fulfilling the client’s program.
Selected from 36 submissions, six recipients were recognized at the AIANH Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet, January 20, at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. Two buildings were also noted in the Annual People’s Choice Awards, based on voting by the public.
The AIANH Design Awards program, now in its 28th year, was developed to recognize and encourage excellence in architectural design in the state of New Hampshire.
The 2012 jury was comprised of representatives from the Seattle, WA architecture community. They were Christian Carlson AIA, Principal, NBBJ; Anne Schopf FAIA, Design Partner, Mahlum; and Joe Herrin AIA, Heliotrope Architects.
Making the presentation, Bart Sapeta AIA, assistant professor in the Keene State College Architecture Department, said, “While reviewing the winning submissions in the built projects category and reflecting on the quality of the work, I realized that all of them closely resemble an observation by professor David Watters in his essay titled “Where is New Hampshire?
He says, ‘A sense of longing for the past just out of reach or a future just over the horizon characterizes New Hampshire consciousness…in this most modern and most traditional of states, where the fear that the local character may be lost can be put to all sort of uses.’ This year within the winning entries there are three historic preservation, renovation and/or adaptation projects and two new construction projects. They all fall beautifully within the context of the tension between the tradition and the future. They all respect the past but also are not shy about new technologies, graphics, proportions, materials and uses that satisfy the “sense of longing for the future just over the horizon.”
The AIANH Excellence in Architecture award recipients are:
MERIT AWARDS
Music Hall Loft, Portsmouth, NH
TMS Architects, Portsmouth, NH
Gen. Contractor: John P. DeStefano, PE
The Music Hall, built in 1878 and designated as an “American Treasure” in 2005, continues its commitment to the area and the Portsmouth community with a new affiliated facility located just around the corner from the Historic Theatre. The Loft opened its doors in April 2011 and has been providing stimulating programming since its opening. Officially known as The Music Hall Loft…Center for Performing Arts, Literature and Education, the new space greatly expands The Music Hall’s mission “to be an active and vital arts center for the enrichment of the Seacoast community.” The Loft will feature live performances and films in a more intimate setting. With a 124-seat capacity, the new facility is a perfect complement to the larger and grander 900-seat Music Hall. Signature programs include Writers in the Loft, Live @ the Loft and Currents @ the Loft – programs which add excitement to Portsmouth’s cultural scene and serve to promote Portsmouth as a cultural center for coastal New England.
Jury Comments
“The architects used incredible imagination in this project. The amount of transformation from before to after is really inspiring. Both the public spaces and the office spaces are treated appropriately for their different uses. Nothing is out of proportion, they were smart about materials, leveraged lighting and graphics to great effect, and spent money in the right places but kept the overall costs low.”
Newbury Center Meeting House, Newbury, NH
Richard M. Monahon, Jr. AIA Architects, Peterborough, NH
Construction Manager: North Branch Construction
The Center Meeting House in Newbury represents a lovingly designed and detailed structure from Asher Benjamin’s pervasive influence. The reverse pulpit and highly detailed interior and exterior woodworking make a great example of this early nineteenth century style. Incremental decay from site drainage and failed roofs combined with a poorly executed renovation during the late nineteenth century created additional problems for the condition of the historic fabric of the building. Newbury’s citizens elected to undertake a restoration of the building after an Historic Structures Report was prepared by Richard Monahon AIA Architects. The process of exploration and discovery revealed structural failures in the three primary girders, sidewall posting, sills and floor framing. The level of damage required the complete removal of the interior plaster and lathing. Restoration include new timber framed roof trusses, new interior plaster to match to original and a detailed removal and reconstruction of the cupola. Interior paint finishes were cleaned and restored to the original color palette.
Jury Comments
“This is a true historic project, and even though the decisions were fiscal, the right alternative decisions were made. What was done here is terrific and respectful and the jurors could find not fault. Even the framing, which is not visible, was treated in an historic way. The quality of details is exceptional and the level of care extraordinary; no short cuts were taken. The project shows really unusual details; the architects were really thinking and cared. Lots of love went into this project.”
CITATION AWARDS
Holderness School Dormitories & Faculty Residences, Holderness, NH
Samyn-D’Elia Architects, P.A., Ashland, NH
Design/Builder: Milestone Engineering and Construction, Inc.
Landscape Architect: Pellettieri Associates, Inc.
Ward D’Elia of Samyn-D’Elia Architects worked with members of the Holderness School community to design new LEED Gold certified dormitory housing for 48 students and residences for 6 faculty families. The dorms are broken down into 4-room pods providing a living environment with an 8:1 student to faculty ratio. Each pod opens directly onto a central common living room and study loft. In order to house many students and faculty in a single area without having the buildings become overpowering, the site plan and building design was developed to resemble a small New England neighborhood with the visual aspect broken into smaller components. The project serves as a template for sustainability programming at Holderness School with student involvement in setting energy conservation goals, exploring sustainability options, job site recycling and ongoing monitoring of electricity, propane, and water use through a real-time, web-based energy kiosk in the living room of each building.
Jury Comments
“This project has a quality that feels right. The staff houses give the faculty families a sense of their own space, while being near student residences. We note the thermal performance, sustainability features, economy, and appropriateness of the project. This project demonstrates that LEED and Energy Star set an appropriate standard. The massing and scale was well resolved. Faculty houses have great proportions.”
20
Stonelea, Dublin, NH
H3 Collaborative Architects, New York, NY and Daniel V. Scully Architects, Keene, NH
CM: MacMillin Construction, Inc.
Landscape Architect: Jane Macleish Landscapes
Stonlea today is the renovated confluence of Historic Preservation and Net-Zero Energy of an 1891 Peabody & Stearns cottage. The house stretches out along a hillside directly facing Dublin Lake and Mount Monadnock in Dublin, New Hampshire. The goal was to modernize the compound to be Grandmother’s Gathering Place, a family retreat. The house had been renovated at least 3-4 times since 1898. This project was another iteration, adding a garage and mechanical room, and bringing out the essence of the house while accommodating the modern program. The house is as energy efficient as reasonably possible, including geo-thermal wells, heat pumps, and solar hot water. It also produces 100% of its required electricity with photovoltaics. A new kitchen, bathrooms, a modest swimming pool and spa have been added within the original structure. Other alterations include vastly improved lighting/heating systems, and screened area under a balcony.
Jury Comments
“There was a great amount of care put into reinventing this historic structure for the 21st century. We were impressed with the architects’ focus on historic preservation and the level of effort required to make it a zero net energy residence. The retrofit was incredibly well-executed, and the jurors appreciated how the team achieved their energy goals by working from the outside in, saving all the interior finishes and details.”
ThinkHouse, Jaffrey, NH
Eric Thompson Design, Columbus, OH
Gen. Cont.: Cedarwood Development Corporation
The ThinkHouse is a cabin for writing, studying and reading in the forest on Frost Pond in Jaffrey, NH. The project merges the poetic and the practical sides of sustainable or green architecture. The project concept is to make a place apart from the everyday world, a place for peaceful contemplation. To achieve this feeling within its beautiful natural setting, the study was raised up from the ground and into the trees, creating a unique and transcendent experience of nature. Raising the building also has a practical ‘green’ side, because it minimized the disturbance of the site that a conventional building foundation would require. Extensive windows, especially on the north side where daylight is glare free, gives the writer an experience of being in the forest with natural light filtering through the trees. And on the practical side, the study uses less electrical energy for lighting.
Jury Comments
“Jurors were most taken by the site and floor plans, and the drawings communicated the concept clearly and concisely. In addition, we appreciated the reinterpretation of traditional materials into new forms and uses. We also feel one would feel very comfortable in this space, a suitable retreat.”
HONORABLE MENTION FOR UNBUILT ARCHITECTURE
The Annex Connector
Julie Rahilly, Nashua, NH, student at Wentworth Institute of Technology
Both architecture and industrial designs students make up the design community at the Wentworth Institute of Technology. However, there is a disconnect between these departments, as they are at opposite ends of the Annex complex. Working with scale and the concept of “growth,” this project bridges one department to the other while creating communal work and recreation spaces. The design contains walls that grow apart and branch into new spaces allowing for flexibility. There is also growth in circulation paths in both linear and longitudinal directions and in the zones of the building. This idea of growth is primarily shown on the façade system and follows the idea of true structure, as the floor plates are visible and worked into the design of the façade. Growth within the façade occurs by way of structural bays exponentially increasing in separation. This grid allows for a pattern of the mullions, which act as secondary structure to the floor plates.
Jury Comments
“This is a strong concept. The program is about connections; seeing and being seen. The concept truly supports this. It is a bold approach and could be a very compelling space and architecture. Of course, to be truly successful, there would need to be a lot of development; that being said, the concept was strong enough to convince us that resolution was achievable.”
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS
Each year AIANH holds an exhibit of the submissions at the NH Institute of Art in Manchester and posts them on their website. Viewers could vote for their favorite residential and favorite commercial projects. The winner for residential was Pleasant Lake Landing in New London, NH, designed by Frank Anzalone Associates of New London, NH. Bruss Construction were the construction managers. The favorite commercial project was the Northeast Rehabilitation Hospital at Pease in Portsmouth, NH, designed by JSA Inc. of Portsmouth. The contractor was North Branch Construction.
About The American Institute of Architects New Hampshire Chapter
AIA New Hampshire is the state component of the national professional association headquartered in Washington, DC, representing 80,000 U.S. registered architects. AIANH has includes 200 architect members, a majority of the architects in the state; 41 Associate members, and 96 Professional Affiliate members.
For 150 years, members of The American Institute of Architects have worked with each other and their communities to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes. AIA members have access to the right people, knowledge, and tools to create better design, and through such resources and access, they help clients and communities make their visions real.
For more information and photos of the winning projects, go to www.aianh.org/ design_awards.asp.