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Awards of Merit

One of the seven merit awards went to St. Mary Magdalene Catholic School in Apex, North Carolina. It was designed by Raleigh architects Roger H. Clark, FAIA and Cannon Architects as the first phase of a master plan for a new parish. The grade school includes classrooms, a parish hall, administrative offices, and play areas.

The jury commented on how well the school "...relates to its context without being too deferential... the brickwork relates to the adjacent historical context without being historicist." They also noted that this was a good model for similar projects, "...an inexpensive building without feeling cheap."

Gateway Lofts, designed by Charlotte-based David Furman Architecture, is a mixed-use infill project, providing affordable housing and street-level retail in downtown Charlotte. The six-story, post-tensioned concrete building was built on a 36- by 300-foot (11- by 91-meter) site adjacent to a parking garage, whose elevator tower it now shares.

Gateway's middle floors have 15-foot (4.6-meter) wide, multilevel, loft-style units with stained concrete floors, exposed load bearing brick walls, and steel stairs open to a mezzanine. Penthouse units have 12-foot (3.6-meter) ceilings, skylit studios, and flowing, wall-free spaces. The jury commended the project on its good use of a constrained site and on its success in concealing the unsightly parking garage behind it.

At a smaller residential scale is the Paletz Moi House in Durham, designed by Raleigh architect Kenneth E. Hobgood for two Duke University professors. The house is on a steeply sloping site and is meant to feel open to the outdoors and surrounding trees. Organized along an east-west axis, the primary spaces have exposures to three orientations. The jury particularly appreciated the architect's skill with massing and composition of materials.

Representing the industrial character of the awards diversity is the Coty Vision 2002 Control Center in Sanford, North Carolina, designed by Centrepoint Architecture, PA. This 2,000-square foot (186-square-meter) center is part of a larger distribution facility. A control room is elevated and has continuous glass for viewing the distribution lines. An observation deck is cantilevered to give visitors a closer look at operations.

Other merit award winners are the 10,000-seat outdoor Pavilion at Symphony Lake, winner of numerous awards, by William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc., the Fuel Warehouse convenience store/ gas station in Kinston by Maune Belangia Faulkenberry, Architects, PA, and the (unbuilt) Brickyard Chiller Plant in Raleigh by Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee, PA.

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The 2003 awards jury, all principals with Seattle firms, are David Miller, FAIA, Miller/Hull Partnership; Susan Jones, AIA, NBBJ; and Allan Farkas, Eggleston Farkas Architect.

St. Mary Magdalene Catholic School in Apex, by Roger H. Clark, FAIA and Cannon Architects, was a 2003 recipient of a design award from the North Carolina chapter of the AIA. Photo: J. West Productions Gateway Lofts in Charlotte, North Carolina by David Furman Architecture. Photo: Carolina Photo Group The Paletz Moi House in Durham, North Carolina by Kenneth E. Hobgood. Photo: Paul Warchol Photography The Coty Vision 2002 Control Center in Sanford, North Carolina, by Centrepoint Architecture, PA. Photo: Jim Phillips   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.