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Mixing Living with Shopping

A mixed-use development, 1247 Wisconsin Avenue, on the main shopping street of historic Georgetown, Washington, DC brought an honor award for McInturff Architects. The project restores two mid-19th century commercial/ residential buildings and fills the remaining site behind them with additional retail space on the street level.

On the alley, a podium formed by the commercial space is represented by a brick facade at the same height as the neighboring historic alley buildings. Above are six luxury residential units, distinguished from the traditional masonry of the adjacent structures by zinc cladding and Douglas fir windows. Each residential unit has at least one private outdoor space screened by dense planting.

The jury commented: "... the idea of wedging housing behind retail in a great walkable historic community is a good idea, very well executed... a lovely image in harmony with what surrounds it."

A house in Churchton, Maryland by Uekman/ Architects received an honor award in the single-family residential category. The Guard/McGrath Residence is sited where Carr's Creek opens into the Chesapeake Bay. A nondescript existing house was renovated and expanded to accommodate a growing family.

The architect's strategy was to wrap new construction around the old, creating a new entry sequence. The closed form of the front of the house opens to large expanses of glass with broad views to the estuary. The open plan serves a generous number of visitors, and the master bedroom suite is zoned to afford privacy from children.

The jury found the house to be an "elegant building" that "achieves its power and strength just for the honest use of materials, the honest expression of space, with minimal means" that "makes you really want to go there and visit... a lovely domestic scale."

Additional Honors

An honor award in the large-commercial category went to Tivoli Square in Washington, DC. by Mushinsky Voelzke Associates and associate architects Oehrlein & Associates Architects and Ernest Bland Associates. In the unbuilt category is the National Aquarium in Baltimore by Design Collective with associate architect Sasaki Associates.

Not shown here are honor award recipients Northbay Environmental Education Camp, in Cecil County, Maryland, by Marks, Thomas Architects, which received an award in the institutional, green building category, and Kentlands, in Gaithersburg, Maryland, master-planned by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company.

A special award for Public Building of the Year went to the Commodore Uriah P. Levy Center and Jewish Chapel in Annapolis, by Boggs & Partners Architects. This building was featured in ArchitectureWeek in May, 2006.

The AIA/Maryland competition jury was chaired by Terrence E. O'Neal, AIA, of Terrence O'Neal Architect and also included Russell A. Davidson, AIA, Kaeyer, Garment & Davidson Architects; Lance Ferson, AIA, LEED, Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture & Engineering; and Francis Murdock Pitts, AIA, FACHA, OAA, architecture+.

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Banneker Douglass Museum in Annapolis, designed by Cho Benn Holback + Associates, received an honor award from AIA/Maryland. Photo: Michael Dersin Upper lobby of the Banneker Douglass Museum, with a "mast" of a middle-passage ship. Photo: Michael Dersin Mixed-use development in historic Georgetown, by McInturff Architects. Photo: Julia Heine Townhouses over ground-floor retail, by McInturff Architects. Photo: Julia Heine Alley unit in the mixed-use development by McInturff Architects. Photo: Julia Heine Guard/McGrath Residence by Uekman/ Architects. Photo: Paul Burk Photography Inside the Guard/ McGrath Residence. Photo: Paul Burk Photography Guard/McGrath Residence. Photo: Paul Burk Photography Tivoli Square by Mushinsky Voelzke Associates, Oehrlein & Associates Architects, and Ernest Bland Associates. Photo: Dan Cunningham National Aquarium in Baltimore by Design Collective and Sasaki Associates. Photo: Design Collective Inc.   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.