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The Residence of Thomas Roszak, in Northfield, Illinois, won an interiors award for his firm, Roszak/ ADC. The house was designed as an exploration of how to foster interaction among family members, even when dispersed to different rooms. The first floor is one open, flowing space. Structure and enclosure consist of raw, industrial materials, but floors and cabinets sport high-end finishes. Glazed facades enclose the entire house.

"The transparency from the outside in and the inside out is a strong design concept," commented the jury, which also praised the use of color. "[T]he yellow structure, red core walls, and cherry floors tie directly into the seasonal vegetation, bringing the landscape into play as design elements."

Lehrer Architects received an honor award for renovation of a mid-20th-century warehouse into its own Los Angeles offices. The firm created an open, daylit space at a total cost of $20 per square foot ($215 per square meter) through a series of concise interventions, such as puncturing an opaque southern wall, finishing floors with epoxy, installing off-the-shelf storage systems, and using solid-core doors painted white for work surfaces. The 5,400-square-foot (500-square-meter) space was also designed to accommodate community events.

"We all want to work there," responded the jury. "The transition of a neglected structure into a vibrant happy experience encourages inventiveness."

Three other interiors awards went to residential projects: Central Park South Apartment, New York City, by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects; Laboratory House in Omaha, Nebraska, by Randy Brown Architects; and Tehama Grasshopper, San Francisco, California, by Fougeron Architecture.

The other four interiors awards went to Anthony Nak Flagship Store, Austin, Texas, by M.J. Neal Architect; the Williams College Center for Theatre and Dance, Williamstown, Massachusetts, by William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc.; Hotel Boutique La Purificadora, Puebla, Mexico, by Legorreta + Legorreta; and Novelty Hill–Januik Winery, Woodinville, Washington, by Mithun.

Regional and Urban Design

One of the five honor awards given in regional and urban design went to the Los Angeles River Rehabilitation Master Plan developed by urban design and landscape architecture firm Civitas Inc., with associate landscape architects Wenk Associates and Mia Lehrer + Associates, and a team of engineers, economic consultants, and others.

The plan outlines strategies for revitalizing the 32-mile (51-kilometer) stretch of the river that currently flows within a concrete channel through the City of Los Angeles, an area with limited public open space. Coordinated actions such as planting riparian vegetation, modifying channel walls to create landscaped terraces, and creating a continuous, accessible greenway could at once help restore ecological function, provide an amenity to adjacent neighborhoods, and create an economic engine. Twenty "Opportunity Areas" will serve as demonstration projects.

"Fabulous project!" said the jury, lead by chair Harry G. Robinson III, FAIA, of Howard University. "It is about prevention instead of the cure; recognizing that human interventions will occur but can be done in harmony with nature."

Three AIA awards went to plans by the University of Arkansas Community Design Center. "Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas" is a scenario-based plan aimed at "helping area residents envision smart growth development opportunities" in a fast-growing region of the state. "With major growth coming," said the jury, "this is a chance to do it right from the outset."

"Campus Hydroscapes" is a proposal for rehabilitating streams and wetlands on part of the university's Fayetteville campus to reduce erosion, flooding, groundwater pollution, and the loss of aquatic life. Three scenarios were proposed, to be used separately or in combination.

The modest "pixelation" approach would incrementally add localized rain gardens to improve stormwater management. The "banded" approach increases the pervious area and creates a "green" parking lot. The "marsh" approach would involve construction of a wetland, with a corresponding shift of parking and buildings to the developed edges.

"Habitat Trails" is a low-impact Habitat for Humanity development planned for Rogers, Arkansas. Designed with associate firm JKJ Architects, PLLC, the project will cluster 17 detached housing units to preserve a third of the site as communal open space. Extensive ecologically based stormwater management will eliminate the need for conventional curb-gutter-pipe systems. The jury called the design "a story of how we can live with nature holistically within a regional vernacular style."

The fifth honor award in regional and urban design went to Zuccotti Park in New York City, by Cooper, Robertson & Partners.

The 28 recipients of the 2008 AIA Institute Honor Awards were announced on January 7. They will be honored in May at the AIA National Convention and Design Exposition in Boston, Massachusetts.   >>>

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE An Infill Student Housing project at UC Berkeley sports colorful, highly articulated facades to give the appearance of several narrower buildings. Photo: Peter Aaron/ Esto Extra Large Image Judicious splashes of color contrast with bare concrete inside the UC Berkeley Infill Student Housing by EHDD. Photo: Peter Aaron/ Esto Extra Large Image SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE At UC Berkeley, infill residence halls share new landscaped spaces with older dormitory towers. Photo: Peter Aaron/ Esto Extra Large Image Kohn Pederson Fox Architects radically transformed the interior of Unilever House, a neoclassical office building near the Thames River in London. Photo: H.G. Esch Photography Extra Large Image At the Roszak Residence in Northfield, Illinois, the detailing of the steel-and-glass facade recalls the Glass Cube vacation home by Ralph Rapson. Photo: Jon Miller/ Hedrich Blessing Extra Large Image The concrete and steel load-bearing structure in the Roszak Residence, by Roszak/ ADC, is distinct from the home's comparatively light curtain wall. The house received a 2008 AIA honor award in the interior architecture category. Photo: Jon Miller/ Hedrich Blessing Extra Large Image For its new offices in Los Angeles, California, Lehrer Architects renovated a warehouse, replacing large portions of a previously opaque wall with roll-up doors. Photo: Benny Chan Extra Large Image The newly rebuilt Zuccotti Park, located across from the World Trade Center site in New York City, was the only built project recognized by the AIA in its Regional and Urban Design awards category for 2008. Photo: Robert Benson Photography Extra Large Image In its detailed analysis of growth strategies for the rapidly expanding northwestern region of Arkansas, the University of Arkansas Community Design Center emphasized rail connections and increased urban density. Image: University of Arkansas Community Design Center Extra Large Image The Habitat Trails project by the University of Arkansas Community Design Center seeks to create a low-impact low-income housing development that emphasizes access to green space and onsite stormwater management. Image: University of Arkansas Community Design Center Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.