2018 Honor Awards Winners

SEATTLE, November 6, 2018—The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Seattle chapter hosted the 68th annual Honor Awards for Washington Architecture on November 5 to celebrate excellence in design.

The distinguished jury included Sunil Bald (New York), Will Laufs (Berlin/New York), Andrea Love (Boston) and Dan Maginn FAIA (Kansas City). The event was moderated by Elizabeth Golden, Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Washington. Co-Chairs for the 2018 AIA Seattle Honor Awards were Susan McNabb AIA (The Miller Hull Partnership) & Tim Richey AIA (SRG Partnership).

From 115 submittals, the jury chose 13 award winners from three categories – built, conceptual, and research & innovation. This was the first year of the Research & Innovation category, recognizing strides in research and innovation coming out of our region, elevating our communities’ awareness of advancement in architectural practice. This was the third year of the Energy in Design Award to commend projects that have made quantifiably significant strides in energy reduction while also maintaining the highest qualitative design caliber.

In addition to the awards, it was the first year of the Young Voices Selection (YVS), a program with the aim to engage and elevate the voices of young designers through direct participation and representation in AIA Seattle’s Honor Awards for Washington Architecture. The four YVS panelists were Siyu Qu Assoc. AIA (The Miller Hull Partnership) , Anh Tran Assoc. AIA (Integrus Architecture), Allison Pericich AIA (McLennan Design) and Sarah Haase AIA (Schemata Workshop).

Across the spectrum of project types, the jury acknowledged the strong design culture represented in the submitted projects, and applauded the winners for their masterful use of site strategies and high marks on building craft. The jury thought a lot about the social impact and influence of these projects in making their selections, and celebrated projects that made incremental change in elegant ways in areas of relevant problems, such as housing, education and sustainability.

Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to our esteemed jury and Honor Awards Committee!

AWARD OF HONOR

Arlington Elementary by Mahlum Architects is a replacement elementary school located in South Tacoma, tasked with helping population growth and displacement. Its use of light and color, gradients of space, and thinking about flexibility and adaptation over time are what captivated the jury, as well as it rising to the challenge for schools to be an agent of community change.

Sawmill by Olson Kundig is is a net-zero single-family home in the California high desert that operates completely off the grid. The extreme attention to detail, its transformability, and the ambitious sustainability story were what made this an Award of Honor to the jury, as well as the restraint and clear conceptual organization of the plan elements connected by to the central hearth, like tents around a campfire balancing expansive views and internal gazes.

ENERGY IN DESIGN AWARD

Helen Sommers Building by ZGF Architects is an environmentally ambitious project with a goal of providing a new workplace paradigm for state agencies. The jury felt this project embodied design and performance, with an interior experience and spatial organization that captivated them in particular in how it encouraged interaction, incorporated public art, and maximized flexibility.

AWARD OF MERIT

Hood Cliff Retreat by Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape
Karl Miller Center by SRG Partnership, Inc. and Behnisch Architeckten
Washington State University Troy Hall by Perkins+Will
Fire Station 22 by Weinstein A+U
Post-Occupancy Data Devices (PODDs) by LMN Architects