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Siting, solar orientation, material selection, and mechanical systems reflect an integral commitment to "green" design, earning the project an additional award for sustainable design. The building houses studio, production, and critique spaces, seminar rooms, and technology clusters.

The Fleet Library at the Rhode Island School of Design earned an education honor award for Office dA. The library is located in the barrel-vaulted main hall of a historic bank building in downtown Providence. The project preserved the character of interior while updating its accessibility and mechanical systems. Fire stairs and sprinkler systems were inserted carefully to avoid visual disruption.

Two new pavilions were created within the hall to house new study spaces, a reading room, and a circulation island. The pavilions were conceived as temporary structures that can be dismantled with minimal disturbance to the space.

Lyn Rice Architects garnered educational honors for the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons The New School of Design. The project unified street-level space in the four existing historic buildings that form the Parsons campus in New York City. The 32,800-square-foot (3,050-square-meter) center includes an auditorium, galleries, archives, critique area, orientation center, and meeting rooms, all organized around a new urban quad.

A new transparent facade of deep-set windows wraps 250 feet (76 meters) around the perimeter, revealing student work to passers-by. Inside, the concrete-and-steel structure was exposed, then accented by more-refined architectural details.

The Warehouse is part of an initiative at Syracuse University to help revitalize downtown Syracuse, New York, by creating a vibrant university presence there.

Gluckman Mayner Architects designed the 140,000-square-foot (13,000-square-meter) renovation of a 1920s warehouse to serve as a temporary home for the School of Architecture and the permanent downtown home for several arts and community programs. The project was driven by a one-year fast-track schedule and a working budget of $50 per square foot ($540 per square meter).

A new curtain wall of blue and clear glazing and orange Panelite insulated units introduces daylight into open-plan studios and allows a visual connection with both the neighborhood and the main campus. The renovation introduced new elevators and mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems, and created studio and classroom space, a 125-seat lecture hall, reading room, community and student gallery spaces, cafe, administrative offices, and library storage.

Architecture Research Office (ARO) received an honor award for the Friedman Study Center at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The new 24-hour library space occupies the three lowermost floors of the Sciences Library, a 14-story brutalist high-rise in central campus. The renovation took advantage of the building's four sunken courtyards and the open plan that admits daylight into its basement.

Noise volume associated with activities served as an organizing principle, and signage divides the space according to decibel levels. The architects created distinctly decorated micro-environments, such as collaborative study rooms with write-on glass walls. Throughout the space, quotations and illustrations from Brown's libraries are printed on the walls — complete with call numbers, to facilitate further inquiry by curious students.

Four projects received merit awards in the educational facility category: Grant Recital Hall at Brown University, by Brian Healy Architects; the New York University Department of Philosophy, by Steven Holl Architects; the Josai School of Management in Sakado, Japan, by studio SUMO; and The New York Hall of Science Preschool Teaching Park in Queens, by BKSK Architects.

Sustainable Design

Two honor award-winners in the category of sustainable design previously appeared in ArchitectureWeek.

The New York Times Building by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, with FXFOWLE (base building architecture) and Gensler (interior architecture), was recently featured in depth.

The Queens Botanical Garden Visitor & Administration Center by BKSK Architects was covered as one of AIA/COTE's Top Ten Green Projects for 2008. It has since received LEED Platinum certification.   >>>

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Office dA earned recognition for a significant interior remodel of the Fleet Library at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Photo: William Melton Extra Large Image Inside RISD's Fleet Library, additions include a small riser-style seating area. Photo: William Melton Extra Large Image In the hall that houses Fleet Library, the color palette of the freestanding additions compliments the historic interior detailing. Photo: William Melton Extra Large Image For the Johnson Design Center at Parsons The New School of Design, Lyn Rice Architects connected the ground floors of four existing buildings. Photo: Michael Moran Extra Large Image Ramps were installed in several locations at the Johnson Design Center to accommodate different floor heights between the four historic buildings. Photo: Michael Moran Extra Large Image Gluckman Mayner Architects replaced concrete walls with a curtain wall of glass and Panelite on one corner of The Warehouse at Syracuse University. Photo: David Heald Extra Large Image The Warehouse is a renovation of a 1920s warehouse building in downtown Syracuse, New York. Photo: David Heald Extra Large Image AIA New York and BSA recognized the Friedman Study Center at Brown University, designed by Architecture Research Office (ARO). Photo: Paul Warchol Photography Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.