As part of its 2016 Housing Awards program, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) named five recipients in the Multifamily Housing and Specialized Housing categories. The program also honored five projects in the One/Two Family Custom Housing category.
The jury for the AIA Housing Awards was comprised of Jamie Blosser, AIA (Chair), Atkin Olshin Schade Architects; Ariella Cohen, Editor-in-Chief, Next City; Kevin Harris, FAIA, Kevin Harris Architect; David Lee, FAIA, Stull and Lee, Inc.; and Suman Sorg, FAIA, Sorg & Associates, P.C.
Here's a look at the winners in the Multifamily and Specialized Housing sectors:
Multifamily
1180 Fourth Street | San Francisco | Architect: Mithun | Solomon (initiated as WRT/Solomon E.T.C.) | Associate Design Architect: Kennerly Architecture & Planning
Photo: Bruce Damonte/Mithun
Completed in 2014, the mixed use1180 Fourth Streetcomplex contains 150 low-income and formerly homeless households. It sits on a 1.4-acre site at the entrance of San Francisco’s Mission Bay South neighborhood. Mithun designed the building to bring residents together with common rooms, community gardens, and a daycare center. The layout includes 10,000 sf of commercial space.Jury member comment: “San Francisco sorely needs affordable housing, and this is a perfect location re: transit and accessibility.”
Cloverdale749 | Los Angeles | Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects
Photo: Lawrence Anderson/LOHA
Decks, windows, patios, and walkway placements allowed Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects (LOHA) to merge private and public space in theCloverdale749. The 10,500-sf building was completed in 2014. Passively sustainable elements in the exterior white form cladding reduces the solar heat load on the building and makes it easier to cool.Jury member comment: “Very well thought out, detailed, and elegant resolution from a simple, rather banal ships container reference.”
Specialized Housing
Commonwealth Honors College, University of Massachusetts, Amherst | Amherst, Mass. | William Rawn Associates, Architects
Photo: Robert Benson Photography/William Rawn Associates, Architects
The 500,000-sf Commonwealth Honors College Community has seven new buildings and added 1,500 total beds in single-rooms, double-rooms, suites, and apartments. The buildings are situated around hillside courtyards. Students that live there can socialize in open outdoor quads. The $192 million LEED Silver project also has classrooms, offices, and a 24-hour cafe. Jury member comment: “They spent so much time on careful spaces for social engagement.”
Homeless Veterans Transitional Housing, VA Campus | Los Angeles | Leo A Daly
Photo: Lawrence Anderson/Leo A Daly
Architecture firm Leo A Daly took a long-vacant building on VA’s West Los Angeles medical campus and repurposed it into a home for 65 homeless veterans. The three-level complex has 45 single apartments, 10 double apartments, a kitchen, fitness room, and communal sitting areas. One wing has access to a “serenity garden.” The renovations to the 51,000-sfBuilding 209 cost $20 million and took two years to finish (it was completed in 2015).Jury member comment: “Spaces, landscaping, and rooms afford a believable sense of importance of and gratitude towards the residents."
Whitetail Woods Regional Park Camper Cabins | Farmington, Minn. | HGA
Camper cabins at Whitetail Woods Regional Park. Photo: Paul Crosby & Peter VonDeLinde/HGA
Threecamper cabinsare built into the crest of a hill at Whitetail Woods Regional Park in Minnesota. Even with only 227 sf, the cabins have two full-size bunk beds, dining and sitting areas, a sleeper sofa, and floor-to-ceiling glass doors. The cabins forgo mechanical cooling because they receive enough shade from the surrounding trees. Each cabin has a 80-sf deck made of red cedar glulam chassis, cedar and pine framing, and red cedar cladding.Jury member comment: “The light footprint is lovely and the low impact on the environment is wonderful.”
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Dec 20, 2023
Top 40 Student Housing Construction Firms for 2023
Findorff, Juneau Construction, JE Dunn Construction, and Weitz Company top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest student housing facility general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Dec 20, 2023
Top 30 Student Housing Engineering Firms for 2023
Kimley-Horn, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, KPFF Consulting Engineers, and Olsson head BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest student housing facility engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Dec 20, 2023
Top 90 Student Housing Architecture Firms for 2023
Niles Bolton Associates, Solomon Cordwell Buenz, BKV Group, and Humphreys and Partners Architects top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest student housing facility architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
MFPRO+ News | Dec 18, 2023
Berkeley, Calif., raises building height limits in downtown area
Facing a severe housing shortage, the City of Berkeley, Calif., increased the height limits on residential buildings to 12 stories in the area close to the University of California campus.
Sponsored | Multifamily Housing | Dec 13, 2023
Mind the Gap
Incorporating temporary expansion joints on larger construction projects can help avoid serious consequences. Here's why and how.
Giants 400 | Dec 12, 2023
Top 35 Military Facility Construction Firms for 2023
Hensel Phelps, DPR Construction, Walsh Group, and Whiting-Turner top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest military facility general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Dec 12, 2023
Top 50 Military Facility Engineering Firms for 2023
Jacobs, Burns & McDonnell, WSP, and AECOM head BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest military facility engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Dec 12, 2023
Top 40 Military Facility Architecture Firms for 2023
Michael Baker International, HDR, Whitman, Requardt & Associates, and Stantec top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest military facility architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Codes and Standards | Dec 11, 2023
Washington state tries new approach to phase out fossil fuels in new construction
After pausing a heat pump mandate earlier this year after a federal court overturned Berkeley, Calif.’s ban on gas appliances in new buildings, Washington state enacted a new code provision that seems poised to achieve the same goal.
MFPRO+ News | Dec 11, 2023
U.S. poorly prepared to house growing number of older adults
The U.S. is ill-prepared to provide adequate housing for the growing ranks of older people, according to a report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. Over the next decade, the U.S. population older than 75 will increase by 45%, growing from 17 million to nearly 25 million, with many expected to struggle financially.