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Technical Sculpture

The Sculpture Building and Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, was designed by KieranTimberlake Associates, LLP — winner of the 2008 AIA Architecture Firm Award.

The complex includes three new buildings: the four-story Sculpture Building, the one-story storefront gallery, and a four-story parking garage, all located on a brownfield site.

Speaking for the jury, Henn said, "We were smitten with this project, particularly with the beauty and responsiveness to the Yale campus context."

Superior environmental performance standards drove the aesthetic development for the Sculpture Building. The building's contemporary gothic fenestration mitigates solar gain, as well as echoing surrounding gothic architecture. The orientation minimizes eastern exposure and almost eliminates western exposure. South-facing windows transmit daylight without glare in the summer and with heat gain in the winter.

The complex breaks the historic quadrangle pattern of Yale campus. Pathways traverse the site, drawing pedestrians into the new complex. The east-west path is planned as an outdoor sculpture garden that connects all the way back to Louis Kahn's University Art Center.

Interior spaces feature utilitarian, unfinished surfaces with exposed steel structures. Beams, girders, tracks of flexible light fixtures, and fire-suppression-system piping form an exposed three-dimensional weaving of building systems. Exposed concrete slabs and high-performance insulation reduce demand on the heating and cooling systems.

The sunscreens on the gallery are made of reclaimed cedar. Measured by cost, 42 percent of all materials were manufactured within 500 miles (805 kilometers) of the project site; of these, 93 percent were manufactured using raw materials harvested within 500 miles of the site.

Water-conserving fixtures reduce water use, and rainwater collected from the roof of the Sculpture Building and surrounding landscape is used to flush toilets.

"This project was really convincing in terms of craft," commented Rodriguez.

Malecha added, "The outdoor space between the buildings really invites the public in."

Honorable Eleventh

This year's Top Ten Green jury also named one honorable mention: the IRS Kansas City CampusInternal Revenue Service (IRS) Kansas City Campus in Kansas City, Missouri, designed by BNIM Architects with 360 Architecture. This projects stands out for its immense size: 1.14 million square feet (106,000 square meters). Also noteworthy is the careful restoration of the historic Kansas City Main Post Office as a key component of the service center.

To address the dramatic shifts in IRS activity levels at different times of year, the main building was divided into three smaller processing wings that can be "turned back" during off-peak times. A highly adaptable design has already been put to the test: after only a few months, the IRS reconfigured almost 75 percent of the building with minimal cost or material waste.

The design also incorporates materials salvaged from buildings previously on the site, including 1,500 glass blocks.

"Instead of the 'big box' suburban governmental complex, this project collected employees, and gave them a delightful space to work in an urban location," cheered Rebecca Henn. "It was executed on the same tight budget, yet gives back to the city in both historic restoration and daytime vibrancy. Bravo."

Glenn Murcutt added, "They reworked an existing building and made an elegant connection."

The AIA/COTE jury for 2008 included Glenn Murcutt, Hon. FAIA, Glenn Murcutt Architecture; Jason McLennan, AIA, CEO of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council; Susan T. Rodriguez, FAIA, Polshek Partnership Architects; Gail Brager, PhD, University of California, Berkeley; Marvin Malecha, FAIA, North Carolina State University; and Rebecca Henn, AIA, Ph.D. candidate, University of Michigan.

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