2006 Competition Results

2006 AIAS/KAWNEER CAMPUS-BASED RECREATION CENTER DESIGN COMPETITION WINNERS

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and Kawneer Company, Inc., recognized the winners of the 2006 Campus-Based Recreation Center Design Competition, at the annual AIAS Forum in Boston, December 29 through January 1.  The competition, which was sponsored by Kawneer and administered by AIAS, challenged students to design a campus-based recreation center that would also serve as a hurricane evacuation shelter.  The University of Wisconsin’s Brian Schmidt took home first place and $2,500 for his innovative, Florida-based design.

Participants were required to research and select a site located in a hurricane-prone area of the United States, and then design a facility that would accommodate the educational, recreational and managerial activities for all users and constituents associated with a college campus and community. The students were challenged to explore options for hurricane resistant construction materials, specifically aluminum building products that would enable them to create sustainable and safe designs.

“At Kawneer, we’re focused on helping to build the next century,” said Karen Zipfel, Director of Marketing, Kawneer North America. “We can’t think of a better way to demonstrate that commitment than to encourage the architects of tomorrow to dream big and imagine the possibilities.”

Three winning designs and three honorable mentions were selected by the competition’s jury. Following the AIAS FORUM, the projects will be exhibited in the AIAS Student Lounge and Gallery at the 2007 AIA National Convention and Design Exposition in San Antonio, May 3-5, 2007, and will be published in the Spring 2007 issue of Crit, the Journal of the AIAS. In addition to the prize money awarded to the individual winners, the AIAS chapter at each school will also receive a cash grant.

The prizes were awarded to:

Brian Schmidt – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
              First Prize ($2500)

Utilizing Kawneer wall systems and reinforced glass to create an overall building envelope, Schmidt’s design, which was to be constructed in St. Petersburg, Florida, featured a nicely articulated façade and believable elements of sustainability, such as sun shading and green roofs. The oceanfront building introduced a well-presented connection between the water’s edge and the urban environmental condition, and the play of the indoor and outdoor scale and the attention to Kawneer materials used made the project especially attractive to the judges.

Joseph W. Irwin and Nick Micheels – University of Nebraska - Lincoln
                Second Prize ($1500)

The overall simplicity and sound execution of Irwin and Micheels’ New Orleans-based project earned them the competition’s second place prize. The recreation center, designed for construction in the lower 9th ward of New Orleans, was intended as an opportunity to ameliorate the social condition of the location, which is one of the most impoverished districts in the area.

A. Matthew Brokenshire IV and Ian Viroslav – University of Arizona
Third Place ($750)

The “architectural anchor” served as the primary concept in the third place project, which was designed for construction in the coastal community of Ft. Myers, Florida. Brokenshire and Viroslav considered specific hurricane forces in the Gulf Coast in their design concept, utilizing theories of mass-void relationships, orientation benefits, wind and debris screens, etc.  In addition, Brokenshire and Viroslav impressed the judges with their use of aesthetically pleasing, human-scaled screens for added protection and by addressing the possible 24-hour usage of the facility.

The AIAS chapter at each school also receives a cash prize.

The jury awarded Honorable Mentions ($500) to the following:

Steven Endres, Nathan Johnson  and Jason Smith – Lawrence Technological University

Katherine Christman – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Zachary Smith and Chris Velardi – Keene State College

The jurors included Clark E. Llewellyn, AIA, NCARB, Director Montana State University School of Architecture and a member of the AIA Board of Directors; Robin L. Murray, AIA, PP, Principal, rlm architect and a member of the AIA Board of Directors; and Michelle Rinehart, Assistant Dean at The Catholic University of America School of Architecture.

The AIAS congratulates all the winners and thanks all the competition participants.