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AIA Westchester / Mid-Hudson honored 10 outstanding projects for design excellence at its annual “Celebration of Architecture” Gala on November 3. The jury was comprised of Jhane Barnes, David Busch AIA, Scott Hollas AIA, Susan Rodriguez FAIA and Andrew Tung ASLA, Esquire (jury chairman). The Chapter’s Board of Directors also awarded the following special honors: the first annual “Celebration of Architecture” Award to ESTO Photographics and a special posthumous “Service to the Profession” Award to Louis Goodman, long time head of the New Rochelle Building Department.

First Honor Awards

Heimbold Visual Arts Center, Sarah Lawrence College, Yonkers, NY
By Polshek Partnership Architects
(also given a special Sustainable Architecture Honor Award)

The new Visual Arts Center establishes a dynamic interdisciplinary environment for the visual arts at a progressive liberal arts institution in southern Westchester County. Relating to the College’s stated goals, the new building engages the landscape and existing campus circulation patterns, promotes student engagement through transparency, draws inspiration from the surrounding historical architecture for its rich pallet of materials and asserts a leadership role in sustainable design. The jury applauded the inventive use of materials, the consistent development of the project in relation to the original concept, the well-integrated plan / section and the exemplary use of building siting, solar orientation, day-lighting and the locally quarried fieldstone to achieve LEED certification.

Credits:

• In house team members: Susan Rodriguez (Design Partner), Timothy Hartung (Management Partner), Joanne Sliker (Project Manager)
• Client: Sarah Lawrence College, Michael Rengers (Director of Operations and Facilities)
• Structural Engineer: Severud Associates
• Mechanical Engineer: Altieri Sebor Wieber
• Landscape Architect: Quennell Rothschild & Partners, LLP

Dia: Beacon, Beacon, NY
By Open Office Arts + Architecture in collaboration with Robert Irwin

The Dia Beacon project involves the conversion of a 292,000 square foot 1920’s box factory, situated along the Hudson River, into a museum of contemporary art. The existing industrial structure, with its extensive skylight systems, was transformed into permanent galleries for large-scale artworks, a bookstore, café, educational media facilities and gardens. The Architects worked closely with the living artists of the collection to develop galleries tailored to the work of each artist shown. The jury commended the use of natural light, the effective spatial compression at the new entry lobby, the clear sequence and circulation throughout the building and the theme of achieving so much with limited intervention. One juror concluded that it was simply a great space for great art exemplifying an open, interdisciplinary attitude.

Credits:

• Partners: Alan Koch, Lyn Rice, Galia Solomonoff, Linda Taalman
• In house team members: Jay Hindmarsh (leader), Astrid Lipka, Alisa Andrasek, Howard Chu, Martin Hagel, Ava Hamilton, Damen Hamilton, Leif Halverson, Anoo Raman
• Artist, Gardens and Design Collaborator: Robert Irwin
• Client: Dia Art Foundation, Michael Govan (Director)
• Structural Engineer: Ross Dalland, PE
• Mechanical Engineer: Ove Arup
• Civil Engineer: T.M. Depuy
• Specifications: Aaron Pine, Construction Specifications Inc.
• Historical Preservation: Jeffrey Shrimpton
• General Contractor: Dia Art Foundation
• Photographs: courtesy Open Office

Honor Awards

School of the Holy Child Library and Classroom Addition, Rye, NY
By Murphy Burnham & Buttrick LLP

The School of the Holy Child Library and Classroom project is a 20,000 square foot expansion of an all-girls Catholic Middle / High School which consisted of a 1920’s mansion and connected 1950’s addition. The addition creates a new entry, library, classrooms, administrative offices and meeting spaces by building around and on top of the 1950’s wing. The new organization preserves the open landscape, permits unobstructed views of the original mansion and reorients the entrance in a way that makes the addition the new heart of the school. The jury noted the addition was well executed; a light intervention carefully woven between the existing heavier buildings with materials that relate to the existing while still establishing a new forward looking vocabulary. The jury also commended the client on their willingness to embrace a new image for a well-established institution.

Credits:

• In house team members: Jeffrey Murphy AIA, Mary Burnham AIA, Andrea Steele AIA, Adam Campagna, Lisette Wong, Andrew Deibel
• Client: School of the Holy Child, Ann Sullivan (Head of School)
• Structural Engineer: Robert Silman Associates
• Mechanical Engineer: Landmark Facilities Group
• Civil Engineer: John Meyer Consultants
• Lighting consultant: Tillett Lighting Design
• Code Consultant: Louis Goodman
• General Contractor: The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
• Photographs: Albert Vecerka/Esto

Sam’s Point Conservation Center, Craigsmoor, NY
By Matthew Bialecki Associates
(also given a special Sustainable Architecture Honor Award)

The new Conservation Center provides support services for visitors and staff using the 5,000 acre Sam’s Point Preserve, a natural environment of cliffs and rare dwarf pines in the Shawangunk Ridge area. The client, an international non-profit organization, specified that the facility provide an integration of the preserve ecology, the architectural expression and their own educational mission. The building focuses on the natural elements, uses natural materials to dissolve the boundaries between site and structure and was designed in accordance with LEED standards. The jury commended the tectonic aspects of the building and the ability to learn about the client’s mission by looking at the architecture. The use of recycled materials, solar orientation, thermal storage mass walls of “Gunk-Crete, clerestory ventilation, bio-swale treatment of storm water and the “Umbrella Roof” system were all noted for their well integrated use.

Credits:

• In house team members: Matthew Bialecki
• Client: The Nature Conservancy, Cara Lee (Director)
• Structural Engineer: Geiger Gossen Hamilton Liao Engineers
• Energy Sustainability: Sustainable Design Collaborative LLC, William Bobenhausen
• Landscape Architect: Hudson Pacific Design, Stefan Yarabek
• Interpretive Design: Earthrise, Donald Watson
• General Contractor: Storm King Contracting, Inc.
• Gunk-Crete Fabrication: David Kucera, Inc.

Gardiner House Addition, Gardiner, NY
By Amy Lelyveld Architect PLLC

After buying an 1816 Ulster County farmhouse that had fallen into disrepair at an estate sale, the Owners wanted to expand and open up the house to invite in the beautiful surroundings. The addition contains a new living room, study, master bedroom and bathroom ingeniously planned on multiple levels that take advantage of the sloping site but maintain a simple constant gable roof line. Moving through the addition, the architecture inflects to embrace and frame the various views which include a heroic and hollow old apple tree, wooded wetlands and the cliff face of the Showanagunk mountains in the distance. The jury praised the way the addition related in scale and materials to the existing house while also being different and spatially more open. The shaker like simplicity of the interior and the carefully framed views were appreciated. They concluded that this was a great way to approach adding onto an existing older structure.

Credits:

• In house team members: Amy Lelyveld, Stephanie LeBlanc
• Structural Engineer: Ross Dalland, PE
• Contractor: Hank Starr Builder
• Photographs: Amy Lelyveld

RK Restaurant, Rye, NY
By Roger Ferris + Partners

The RK Restaurant, located on the first floor of a quiet side street in the village of Rye, creates a series of overlapping experiences through the arrangement of entry, bar, kitchen and public and private dining rooms. The kitchen is placed at the heart of the restaurant so that diners experience kitchen activity through a seamless glass enclosure. The main dining room has a custom designed digital projection system that displays a scrolling scripted text on the dining room wall, creating the impression that the diner may be glimpsing bits of conversations from around the room. The jurors praised the clearly organized layout of the space as well as the clean planar detailing of the interior surfaces, the strong horizontal datum of the built-in seating and the well designed bar.

Credits:

In house team members: Roger Ferris AIA, Phil Hubbard AIA, Jim Carron AIA, Tiziano Fabrizio, Myron Mirgorodsky

Morgan Stanley Financial Center, Purchase, NY
By Roger Ferris + Partners
(also given a special Lighting Honor Award)

An exterior enclosed courtyard of a suburban corporate office headquarters has been transformed into a 16,500 square foot clear span interior trading floor along with associated renovations of the building entrance, offices and amenities areas. The new trading floor is spanned with 114 foot long architectural finish structural steel arches with steel tension cables. Day-lighting is controlled with motorized exterior louver and interior shade systems. Building mechanical systems, acoustics, lighting and air distribution are integrated into the architectural detailing of the ceiling vault. The jury praised the design of the clear span ceiling and called the integration of the hidden lighting particularly successful.

Credits:

• In house team members: Roger Ferris AIA, Dave Beem AIA, Phil Hubbard AIA, Tiziano Fabrizio, Myron Mirgorodsky

Residential Gym, Scarsdale, NY
By Leroy Street Studio Architecture PC

This 1947 house in Scarsdale was acquired by the owner of an adjacent residence and the two separate lots combined. The project converts the 1947 house into a family recreational facility centered around a new double height basketball court. A bedroom wing of the house was demolished and the double height space was formed by removing the existing living room floor, strengthening the timber roof structure and bracing the exterior walls with new steel channels. Pivoting wood panels open the space up to the adjacent lawn play spaces. The jury commented that this was an amazing transformation of an existing 1940’s residence, both spatially inventive and beautifully detailed.

Credits:

• Structural Engineer: Marchetti Consulting Engineers
• Landscape Architect: Daniel Sherman
• Photographs: Paul Warchol

Citation Awards

Maryknoll Visitor’s Center Film Theater, Maryknoll, NY
By Visconti Architecture

The Fathers and Brothers of Maryknoll, a significant Catholic Mission, created a new capital project for a Visitor’s Center to expose frequent visitors to the world through the eyes of the mission and to inspire visitors on the future of the mission. A 40 foot x 90 foot space was converted within the Mission’s headquarters to develop a large exhibit area for tactile, interactive multimedia installations with a 50 seat film theater. The permanently installed theater and temporary exhibits are designed to relate to the “primitive architectural expression” of African huts / fences and are projected upon with digital projectors with images of actual architectural textures taken from missionaries around the world. The jury appreciated that this project expressed a symbolic change in expression from the historic architecture of the Mission and represented an approach to be encouraged and applauded.

Credits:

• In house team members: Frank Visconti AIA
• Client: Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers, Father Richard Callahan
• Consulting Engineers: Visconti Associates
• Exhibit Design: Inex Design
• A/V Consultant: HED

The Rising: Westchester County’s September 11 th Memorial, Valhalla, NY
By Fredrick Schwartz Architects
(un-built project)

The Rising invites families and visitors to look back in memory of their loved ones and look forward as a community by providing a place of prayer and reflection. 109 individual strands emerge from the Circle of Remembrance on the plaza, and rise 80 feet into the sky. The Memorial’s visual lightness acts as a counterpoint to the solidity of the adjacent historic Kensico Dam. The 109 intertwined stainless steel strands rise from a concrete base, with 109 granite slabs inscribed with information on those remembered, and intertwine to create a stable structure that also sways gently in the wind and changes appearance at different times of day. The jury called the design “delicate yet grounded” and noted a similar reading in the vertical structural lines of the World Trade Center that also opened up at the bottom. The jury noted the importance of how the detailed intersections of the strands would be to be resolved in the upcoming construction of this un-built project.

Credits:

• In house team members: Fredrick Schwartz, Jessica Jamroz
• Client: Westchester County, Susan Tolchin
• Structural Engineer: Ove Arup & Partners Consulting Engineers