AIA Announces 13 Recipients of Housing Committee A

Washington, D.C., March 10, 2006 — The American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced today the thirteen recipients of the 2006 Housing Committee Awards. The AIA’s Housing Awards Program, now in its sixth year, was established to recognize the best in housing design and promote the importance of good housing as a necessity of life, a sanctuary for the human spirit, and a valuable national resource. Single-Family This category recognizes two distinctions—Single-family Merchant-built and Single-family Custom housing. Single-family Merchant-built recognizes merchant-built homes; Single-family Custom recognizes outstanding custom and remodeled homes. No projects were awarded this year in the Merchant-Built category. Kessler Residence, Chevy Chase, Md. Robert M. Gurney, FAIA, Architect, Alexandria, Va. The owners wanted a modern, informal, universally designed house that fit into their historical neighborhood. In this project, a steeply pitched roof becomes a threshold between the historic neighborhood and modernist house. Inside, generous spaces, wide halls, an elevator, and fully accessible bathrooms and kitchen are incorporated into the design to address physical constraints. The 3,800 square-foot house is organized around a 75-foot lap pool. “It has a clean, modern interior and the design brings the outdoors inside,” the jury said. “It has bold geometry without going over the top.” Slot House, Brooklyn, N.Y. noroof architects, Brooklyn, N.Y. The defining decision of the renovation of this row house was to preserve a 60-foot-tall maple tree which stood in the front courtyard. First, a slot-like window was cut into the facade in order to provide a view of the tree from inside. The architects then took the spatial idea of the slot and repeated it throughout the design to extend the house vertically and horizontally. The interior is ordered by cedar planes and metal screens. Steel grates set into second floor allow daylight to penetrate into the bedroom below. This project has “great innovative detailing on the inside,” the jury said. “The architects really worked overtime in coming up with good, creative, three-dimensional ideas.” The Coconut House, Los Angeles Lee & Mundwiler Architects, Santa Monica, Calif. This infill project embodies its metaphorical title inside and out and strives to provoke an inner childhood yearning for “home.” The approach from the street leads to the entry which is situated at the middle core of the house. Deliberate openings blur the boundaries of the narrow lot and through vehicles such as moveable louvers in the courtyard shield an exposure between the neighbors and the street. The façade of dark fiber core panels with wood veneer emulates the tough shell of a coconut. Sustainable features are applied throughout including the maintenance-free façade which will eliminate the use of petroleum-based products, such as paints and sealers, for many years. "The house has clean, sparse details and sustainable features,” enthused the jury. “This project does a wonderful job of making you feel like you’re living outdoors while sitting in your living room.” Avis Ranch, Clyde Park, Mont. Fernau & Hartman Architects, Inc., Berkeley, Calif. The desire to demonstrate that discarded structures could have a utility beyond that of being part of a historical record, to not unnecessarily disturb the land, and to preserve the idea of rural life are the principles that guided the design of this Montana ranch. The Ranch consists of two clusters, the “granary” and “barn” clusters. A barn and a granary, abandoned for fifty years, were renovated into a farmhouse, bunkhouse, and recreational space respectively and incorporated into the granary cluster with a new car barn. In the barn cluster, the team converted a two-cell granary to guest quarters, renovated a log cabin as an office, and reconstructed the outhouse. They also added a hay barn.

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