LLB Architects was recently awarded two AIAri design awards for their work on the J. Walter Wilson Building at Brown University and the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences at the University of Rhode Island. The awards were announced earlier last month during the AIA Rhode Island Annual DesignAwards Gala at Hotel Providence by an awards jury made up of members from AIA Virginia.
The J. Walter Wilson Building was selected for a Merit Award in Adaptive Reuse/Renovation. The original 1962 building and subsequent 1981 addition were revitalized from a former laboratory into a vibrant communications hub, consolidating eleven different administrative and student service departments into one central building. The new entry and glass tower allow building
inhabitants and the campus community to visually and physically connect with each other.
Representatives from Brown University commented on the project saying, “Thanks to inspired ideas from LLB Architects, dedicated coordination with consultants, and weekly job meetings which promoted earnest collaboration with University officials, the destiny of the J. Walter Wilson Building shifted from an unremarkable fixer-upper to an inspired creation in which Brown University may take pride. The integration of so many vital campus services into a single, inviting building embodies Brown University’s mission statement by truly strengthening the “partnership of students and teachers in a unified community.”
The Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences was granted a Merit Award in the Educational/Institutional category. With a submission by the design architect Payette, LLB was credited as associate architect for the new CBLS building at URI, a vital asset to the future growth of the University and the State of RI in the field of biotech and life sciences. The awards jury was very
impressed with the project and it has recently been awarded LEED Gold certification, the first Gold-certified building at URI.