The American Institute of Architects, Vermont Chapter (AIAVT) announced the recipients of its 2020 Excellence in Architecture Design Awards program at its annual meeting, held virtually on December 10, 2020. Six projects were chosen for demonstrating an “extraordinary level of competence” from twenty six entries submitted by AIAVT member architects.
The jurors, all members of AIA Canada Society included Pauline Thimm AIA; Sam Oboh, FAIA; Darryl Condon, AIA; Dr. Adam Pantelimon, Intl. Assoc. AIA; and Andrew Frontini. The jury was asked to consider granting awards based on design excellence and sustainable design principles at three levels: Honor (first), Merit (second), and Citation (third). The jury convened virtually, and was facilitated by AIAVT’s Awards Committee Co-Chairs, Jeff Stetter, AIA and Ryan Edwards, AIA.
Winner of this year’s only Honor Award was Middlebury, VT firm, McLeod Kreddell Architects, for “High Performance Affordable Housing”, a pair of single-family homes located in Middlebury, VT. This project involves questions of affordable housing, sustainability, the value of a liberal arts education, and the role of the architect in society. The pair of houses presented here—one completed and occupied, one under construction—are the first results of an ongoing collaboration between the architecture firm, McCleod Kreddell, Middlebury College, and the county chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The houses share a small lot in the heart of a New England college town, and their design offers a progressive and optimistic message to the community about affordable housing. Designed and built—with students and volunteers—to the state’s highest performance standards for energy efficiency, the houses demonstrate that affordable housing can be both architectural and sustainable.
Maclay Architects, based out of Waitsfield, VT received a Merit Award for “Green Mountain Retreat”, a single-family residence located in Warren, VT.
The compact yet open plan for the main living space, connects this modern ski house to its site and to views of the ski area in the distance. Carved into the hillside, the bedrooms are located on the lower level, offering privacy and allowing for the cathedral spaces to occur in the main living area. The net zero envelope means that the home is heated with an air source heat pump powered by the roof top PV array. The overall design emphasizes simplicity. Simple forms and minimalist detailing make the most of the limited palate of materials
Birdseye of Richmond, VT received two Merit Awards. One for Lathhouse, a single family home located in Sagaponack, NY, and another for Field House, a single family home located in South Kingston, RI.
The architecture of Lathhouse is conceptually inspired by the eponymous lath house; a traditional gabled farm structure made primarily of wood laths or slats spaced to reduce sunlight while permitting ventilation. At Lathhouse, the slats are both contextual and purposeful, reimagined as siding that functions to provide privacy screening, to limit interior light emittance, and used as solar shading. The singular exterior material of weathered wood cladding, made from decades-old corral board fencing, reflects a timeless patina reminiscent of the barns and outbuildings in rural landscapes.
Field House is composed of two separate gable volumes: a two-story main house and a one-story garage, knitted together with a perpendicular exterior walkway and an intermittent full-height sitewall. The residence is designed to create an engaged relationship with the landscape. The architectural massing extends the composition into a large meadow to the west while integrating views that promote engagement with the outdoors. Contrasting tones of black stain and clear western red cedar layer onto the architectural elements to reinforce the visual relationships of the forms.
A Merit Award was received by Watershed Studio Architecture, located in White River Junction for their project, Draper River House, located in Gill, MA. The Draper River House terminates the path from campus to the Connecticut River. Crew team boat and repair bays are housed on the lower level. Coaching and flexible space for 32 rowing ergometers are on the upper level. The project features direct use of “off the shelf” long life cycle, low finish, low maintenance materials. Design priorities were ample daylight, natural ventilation and integration with the landscape.
A Citation Award was received by McLeod Kreddell for their project, Habitat for Humanity Storage Shed, located in Vergennes, VT. Since 2012, the McCleod Kreddell firm has operated a community design-build program with college and university students. Until 2020, the program was based on off-grid islands in Penobscot Bay, Maine. This year, the pandemic forced their partner island to lock down and bar visitors. Faced with the eleventh-hour choice of abandoning the program or finding a new home base, the program relocated to the Green Mountains of Vermont. Following the same format as the previous ten sessions in Maine, the group undertook to design, prefab, deliver, and install a project for a community partner in just eight days. Bringing together nine students from six schools, two architects, and a builder, they lived and worked together in seclusion in a remote location up in the mountains, wearing masks and practicing COVID safety precautions. On the final day, the program delivered (by truck instead of boat) and installed a completed storage shed for a house to be built by Habitat for Humanity volunteers.
Details and images for all of the above projects can be found at: https://www.aiavt.org/awards/20awards. New this year, AIA Vermont has published a booklet featuring the six winning projects, as well as images of all of the entries received. The booklet will be available in both digital and print format, and can be viewed here: https://issuu.com/aiavt/docs/201211_aiavt_design_award_book
AIA Vermont is the Vermont Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.