MAPA Announces Design 09 Winners

The judges for the MAPA Design 09 program have selected the winners of our inaugural competition. Their criteria was very simple: design excellence.

Design 10 entries will be accepted beginning March 1, 2010. Watch for more information regarding the Design 10 competition.

BEST OF COMPETITION

Parking Structures Award of Excellence

Lehigh University Alumni Parking Garage

This five-level, 104,000 square foot parking facility, set on a steeply sloping hillside at Lehigh University, creates a dramatic infill for the campus' stone alumni center by integrating both heavy stone elements and light concrete and steel elements in an inviting and open design. The structural design eliminated the tall, heavy spandrels traditionally associated with parking structures and replaced them with an open, lightweight concrete latticework that provides both exciting form and efficient function.

The columns and spandrels were finished in architectural grey with a darker limestone aggregate to complement the alumni center stone exterior. Architectural grey components were given a textured sandblast finish for a delicate visual effect.

The jury was effusive in their praise of this project. "Simply amazing," said one. "Couldn't take my eyes off of it," said another. "The overall texture of the bands and tight columns is beautiful." In general, the jury liked the graceful manner in which the building rose out of the ground, respecting the topography of the site, and the way the courtyard tied into the existing building, softening the abruptness of the historical context. One juror summed up the jury's feelings that the Lehigh Garage speaks to an architectural quality in parking structures that is unexpected and rarely seen.

• Bohlin Cywinksi Jackson Architects
• Lehigh University
• High Concrete Group LLC

Arena Award of Excellence

Washington Nationals Ballpark

The exterior façade of the Washington Nationals Ballpark features a unique design of steel, glass, and pre-cast concrete that blends together to create an aesthetic that reflects the architecture of Washington, DC. The precast concrete components of the façade evoke the limestone of the major public buildings of Washington, including inspiration drawn from the West Wing of the National Gallery of Art by I.M. Pei. The park's concourses and seating decks are designed to evoke the feeling of a variety of distinct Washington neighborhoods, featuring a variety of views and identities.

Most impressively, this state-of-the-art facility achieved certification as LEED Silver, a rarity for a major public arena. The designers utilized clever design and sustainable materials to make Washington Nationals Park one of the greenest public facilities in the nation. More than half the fans entering the park, for instance, will reach their seats without ever using an escalator, elevator, ramps or stairs because the main field level is set 24 feet below the street level. The use of precast concrete was an important contributor to this achievement.

The judges praised the Washington Nationals Ballpark for its contextual compatibility through the use of form and color. It is, said one judge, simply a contemporary building that fits very well into its surroundings. In a city of neo-classicism, said another, this is not a nostalgic project.

The judges also appreciated the fact that the ballpark was environmentally sensitive and had helped to revitalize a depressed area of the city—making it a destination point.

• HOK / Devroux-Purnell Architects (Joint Venture)
• District of Columbia Sports & Entertainment Commission
• Universal Concrete Products Corporation

Housing Award of Excellence

N Street Duplexes

The N Street Duplexes are a new interpretation of the Washington DC row house in a Historic District. Constructed in a long neglected section of the Shaw neighborhood, the dwellings have transformed the area and serve as a prototype for affordable urban living.

In a departure from typical residential wood construction, these row houses are built with materials commonly used in commercial and institutional buildings. The shell consists of prefabricated concrete panels and hollow-core concrete planks. The facades are constructed predominately curtain walls with the added rhythm of brick on the street façade.

Architect Suzane Reatig says: "The precast concrete structure offers durability, non-combustibility, sound absorption, and cost-efficiency, making it ideally suited for high-density urban living."

The jury praised the duplexes for their craftsmanship and approachable scale, creating a strong sense that people are entering their own home. They fit in well with the existing brownstones of Washington, yet provide a level of design that is impressive for affordable housing.

• Suzane Reatig, FAIA
• Elizabeth Madison
• Oldcastle Precast Building Systems

Housing Award of Merit

Samuel A. Ramirez Building

MA Architects took great care to ensure that the design of the Samuel A. Ramirez Building blended with the surrounding architectural character of New York City's Tribeca district, using design motifs from historic warehouses in the area. Architect Morris Adjmi not only planned an architecturally compatible building, but also won the approval and praise of the area's Landmarks Preservation Commission. The historic design of the building prompted the commission to say it "would enhance the special architectural character" of the district.

Precast panels in rich brick red, designed with protruding fins reminiscent of turn-of-the-century warehouse architecture, provides a historic flavor, while the top floor features a row of smaller radius windows on fluted precast panels capped with a wide cornice, designed to be aesthetically compatible with the top floors on nearby buildings.

The jury commented on the fact that the Ramirez Building doesn't try too hard to mimic historical and doesn't' throw in flourishes. The designers developed their own language using some of the shapes of the Tribeca buildings and created a façade that is beautifully graceful and hard to pull off.

• MA Architects (Morris Ajdmi)
• Basile Builders Group
• Architectural Precast Incorporated

Institutional Award of Excellence

Harrisburg University Academic Center

The Academic Center of the Harrisburg University of Science & Technology is 373,000 square feet, 16 story structure housing classrooms, aaboratories, administrative offices, and a conference center.

BurtHill Architects felt it was critical to create a building that would be an iconic expression for the University and the City of Harrisburg. To accomplish this, the team developed a massing strategy that respected the contextual scale of the city by breaking down the massive structure to a scale consistent with its neighbors.

While the building respects its surroundings, massing decisions, façade articulation, and a distinctive roof profile set the building apart from its neighbors, helping to provide the iconic home the University sought. The design team strived to stay faithful to the aspirations of the University, helping to create an iconic presence on the Harrisburg skyline, while rooting the University firmly in the vibrant street life of downtown Harrisburg. The use of precast concrete helped make that vision a reality.

The jurors praised the crisp, bright, and clean appearance of the precast façade, and lauded the way the architect handled the difficult problem of incorporating seven stories of parking into the overall design through the use of grillwork, resulting in an interesting elevation composition. The use of an overhanging roof, said the jurors, was a bold move. "This was a tough problem," said one juror, "that the architect handled very well."

• Burt Hill Architects
• Harrisburg University of Science & Technology
• Architectural Precast Incorporated

Commercial Award of Excellence

South of Market

South of Market is a 650,000-square-foot speculative office and retail complex in Reston, VA, consisting of two 10-story buildings and one 6-story building, each having ground-floor retail and offices above.

Aesthetics were a primary consideration in choosing precast for the cladding design. To contrast with two gleaming precast concrete towers across the street, the design team chose the warmth of an amber thin brick, which was embedded in the face of the precast architectural panels.

"Precast gave us flexibility," says Andy Rollman of SmithGroup. "We could introduce metal and brick where we wanted without having to worry about a complicated back-up structure of metal studs or CMU."

In describing South of Market, one juror simply said "there's a there there." They praised the nice proportions of the project and the breaking of the large building into various volumes that each maintained its own texture. They appreciated the interesting panelization, the clever use of precast portions with a metal horizontal belt course, vertical elements, and an overall unusual treatment for precast that "doesn't look like precast." One juror seemed to sum up the feelings of the panel in terming South of Market "quite striking."

• SmithGroup Inc. (Andy Rollman)
• Boston Properties
• High Concrete Group LLC