The Detroit Chapter of the American
Institute of Architects
announced the winners in its 2007
Design Award Program. (Click on Images
below for additional pictures)
Detroit - November 12, 2007 - Four of the six
award winning buildings in the American Institute of Architects Detroit design
competition are adaptive reuses of existing buildings. This year, as in the
past, a jury of prominent architects from outside Michigan was assembled to
examine the unidentified entries. The annual awards ceremony is at the Detroit
Athletic Club on November 16. The architects and building owners will receive an
engraved stainless steel plaque.
A panel of distinguished architects from Missouri chose six winning
buildings:
Cass Technical High School
by TMP / TYJT A Joint Venture for the
Detroit Public Schools
Boll Family YMCA Downtown Detroit by SmithGroup, Incorporated
Ronnisch Construction Group Headquarters in Royal Oak by biddison
architecture + design
University of Michigan Literature, Science and Arts Building
by
SmithGroup, Incorporated on the U of M Campus in Ann Arbor
Bank of Birmingham by Luckenbach/Ziegelman PLLC in Birmingham for
the Birmingham Bank
Affirmations Community Center
by Luckenbach/Ziegelman PLLC in
Ferndale for the Affirmations Gay & Lesbian Center
Luckenbach/Ziegelman PLLC, with offices in Birmingham and Ann
Arbor, managed two awards for two very different building types. They turned two
community eyesores into inviting public places. The Bank began life as a 1960s
one story nondescript strip building and morphed into an elegant and dignified
banking facility. The Affirmations Community Center is another example of
adaptive reuse. This one integrates sustainable principles while producing a
light-filled inviting environment on a busy commercial street.
The SmithGroup, with headquarters in downtown Detroit, also
earned two honors. This is the second AIA award for the Boll Family YMCA, the
first from AIA Michigan in the spring. It is a welcome addition to the urban
fabric of inner city Detroit. Their other winner, the renovation of a sixty year
old building on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is another
example of sensitively revamping an old building for modern use.
The Ronnisch Construction Group Headquarters is another remake of a 1960s
building that helps to revitalize an area. A Farmington Hills firm,
biddison architecture + design, breathed new life into a derelict
building on a weed-filled industrial site .
A joint venture was formed by TMP Architecture, with offices in
Bloomfield Hills, Portage and Columbus, Ohio, and TYJT, a Detroit
based engineering consulting firm, to design the new Cass Technical High School
for the Detroit Board of Education. The architects used an interactive design
process engaging the students and the community.
JURY
Chair John C. Guenther, AIA, LEED AP
Principal, Mackey Mitchell Architects
William A. Bowersox, FAIA
Principal, Powers Bowersox Associates, Inc.
Mary Ann Lazarus, AIA
HOK
Bruce Lindsey, AIA, Professor &
Dean
College of Architecture, Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design
Washington University in St. Louis
George Z. Nikoloajevich, FAIA
Principal, Cannon Design
Ronnisch Construction Group Headquarters, Royal
Oak, MI
"The integration and layering of spatial
elements, furniture, and materials, combined with the strategic use of color and
lighting, produce a rich interior of common materials used in uncommonly
beautiful ways."
Architect: biddison architecture + design
Owner/Contractor:
Ronnisch Construction Group
Boll Family YMCA
Downtown Detroit, MI
"This beautifully resolved design reveals the energy
within. This is a great addition to the fabric of the city."
Architect:
SmithGroup
Owner:
YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit
Contractor:
Barton Malow Company
Bank of Birmingham, Birmingham, MI
"A remarkable transformation and adaptive reuse of an unremarkable structure
into an elegant and dignified bank facility that meets the client’s goal to be
open and inviting."
Architect: Luckenbach|Ziegelman Architects PLLC
Owner:
Bank of Birmingham
Contractor:
Ronnisch Construction
University of Michigan
Literature Science and Arts Building
Ann Arbor, MI
"A key benchmark of this design is that both
original and new are better for each other"
Architect:
SmithGroup
Owner:
The University of Michigan
Contractor:
De Maria Company
Cass Technical High School, Detroit, MI
"In response to a tight urban site, this
design skillfully accommodates the program elements in a vertical arrangement
for a building type typically more horizontal and spread out. The building
section is well composed and yields rich spatial qualities throughout,
culminating in an inspirational media center set atop the school. The inclusive
programming and planning process is most commendable as is the commitment of the
Detroit Public Schools to seek excellence in architecture intended to serve and
nurture our most precious resource - our children"
Architect: TMP / TYJT A Joint Venture
Owner:
Detroit Public Schools
Contractor:
Jenkins Constructio
Affirmations Community Center
Ferndale, MI
"The design fits comfortably into and contributes to its context while its
strategically interconnected levels and use of natural light creates an enhanced
sense of community. The sophisticated palette successfully integrates
sustainable principles with great resolution"
Architect: Luckenbach|Ziegelman Architects PLLC
Owner:
Affirmations Gay and Lesbian Community Center
Contractor:
The Monahan Company
Individuals honored for their contributions to
architecture and to the betterment of Detroit:
Gold Medal Recipient
Daniel A. Redstone, FAIA
Redstone Architects, Southfield >>> More
Honorary Affiliate Member
Frank D. Stella, Hon. AIADC
Founder and CEO
Frank D. Stella Products, Detroit >>> More
Young Architect
Blake A. Elderkin, AIA Albert Kahn Architects, Detroit >>> More
The American Institute of Architects Detroit,
headed by Cynthia K. Pozolo, AIA of Shelby Township, is a chapter of the 78,000
member national organization. The mission of the Honor Awards program is two
fold, 1) to show the public "What Architects Do" and to inform about the value
and importance of architectural excellence and 2) to enable architects to better
understand notable achievements so that excellence continues to be the standard.
The Chapter held its first design competition in 1928. It was discontinued
during the Depression and began again in the boom years after WWII.
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