2021 AIA Dayton Focus on Design Awards Announced

2021 Focus on Design Awards Recap

VIEW PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT HERE.

A digital program booklet with photos of all of the submissions was sponsored by The Belden Brick Company, and can be accessed HERE.

On Wednesday, December 1, the American Institute of Architects, Dayton Chapter held its  Focus on Design Awards Program at the Dayton Arcade Rotunda in downtown Dayton.

This salute to design excellence was established to promote and focus attention on Miami Valley architecture firms producing quality and high performance design in adherence to the American Institute of Architect’s 10 Principles of Livable Communities.

In Architecture Projects Over 5,000 SF, two Honor Awards, one Merit Award, and three Honorable Mention Awards were presented:

• MODA4 Design received an Honor Award for The HUB at the Dayton Arcade

• Ruetschle Architects received an Honor award for the Dayton Metro Library Trotwood Branch

• LWC Inc. received a Merit Award for the Sinclair Community College Health Sciences Center

• LWC Inc. received an Honorable Mention Award for the Dayton International Airport Terminal Modernization

• Levin Porter Architects received an Honorable Mention Award for the Dayton Phoenix Group

• Revival Design Studio received an Honorable Mention Award for The Syndicate

In Architecture Projects Under 5,000 SF, one Honor Award, one Merit Award, and one Honorable Mention Award were presented:

• Levin Porter Architects received an Honor Award the University of Dayton Hathcock Hall

• MODA4 Design received a Merit Award for the 29 Wayne Avenue Expansion

• LWC Inc. received an Honorable Mention Award for the Dayton Art Institute Grand Staircase & Fountain Restoration

In the Interior Architecture category, two Honor Awards, one Merit Award, and one Honorable Mention Award were given:

• MODA4 Design received  Honor Awards for their projects Sueno and Tender Mercy

• Revival Design Studio Inc. received a Merit Award for The Flying Pepper Cantina

• Levin Porter Architects received an Honorable Mention Award for WilmerHale.

In the Makers Category, one Merit Award was presented:

• Levin Porter Architects received a Merit Award for the Northridge Iceberg

(The Makers Category recognizes an instance in which the expression of architecture and the craft of making come together. Submissions illustrate the governing design concept of that building in which the detail is found through the use of a particular material, detail, or technology.)

In the Student Design Category, one Honorable Mention Award was presented:

• Grace Link received an Honorable Mention Award for Bowling Green State University Technology Building

The Architectural Advocacy Award was presented to Tim Kambitsch, retired Executive Director of the Dayton Metro Libraries for leading the master planning process for the $187M Libraries for a Smarter Future program.  The program has built a new Main Library and 16 state-of-the-art Branches, all of which are design focused projects that have improved their communities.

The 2021 jury was comprised of representatives from the American Institute of Architects, Northern Minnesota Chapter.  Katherine Gerzina, AIA, Duluth, MN served as the  jury chair.

Platinum sponsors of the event were Snyder Brick & Block; Marsh Building Products, and L2 Engineering.  Other underwriters of the event were Elements IV Interiors and Haworth; Shell & Meyer Engineering; Belden Brick; Passero;  and the Masonry Institute of Dayton. Award Supporters include:  Becker Construction; Bowser-Morner Inc.; Brumbaugh Construction; Dayton Builder's Exchange; Hamilton Parker; Heapy; Helmig Lienesch; Marsh & McLennan; Pella: Shook Construction; The Underground Detective; and Woolpert.

A digital program booklet with photos of all of the submissions was sponsored by The Belden Brick Company, and can be accessed here.

2019 Focus on Design Recap

On Friday, November 1, the American Institute of Architects, Dayton Chapter held its Focus on Design Awards Program at the Liberty Tower, Grand Hall in Dayton, Ohio.  

This salute to design excellence was established to promote and focus attention on Miami Valley architecture firms producing quality and high performance design in adherence to the American Institute of Architect’s 10 Principles of Livable Communities.

In the Interior Architecture category, two awards were given:

• MODA4 Design received a Merit Award for the JJR Solutions project. JJR Solutions occupies two floors of a historic mixed use/adaptive reuse building.  The building sits within a historic district entrenched in industrial and soft goods production.  The user celebrates the building’s history and existing materiality while providing modern workplace amenities and aesthetics. Utilizing the Alternative Compliance tabulations of OBC Section 3412, the designers were able to remove a section of adjoining floor/ceiling assembly to provide environmental connectivity to the entire leased area.  The opening accommodated the reuse of the original building’s spiral shipping chute as a fully functional slide.  The re-purposed chute communicates the company’s culture/connection to the building/district.

JJR Solutions

• John Poe Architects received an Honorable Mention Award for the University of Dayton Chudd Auditorium.  The University of Dayton identified a need for a large scale, collaborative learning space within the Science Center comprised of Sherman and Wohlleben Halls.  The design team was tasked with transforming the 2,700 square foot Chudd Auditorium from a traditional fixed seat lecture hall built in 1956 into a state-of-the-art teaching environment that enhances student engagement with instructors and peers.

Chudd Auditorium

In the Newly Completed Buildings and/or Additions over 5,000 square feet, two   awards were made:

• LWC Incorporated received an Honor Award for the Washington-Centerville Woodbourne Library.  The Woodbourne Library provides patrons with enriching educational experiences following a complete renovation of the existing building (21,000 SF) and a 9,200 SF addition. The main entrance has been relocated to the addition, a glass-enclosed space that serves as a welcoming beacon to patrons and glows in the evening twilight. The patio tile and carpet tiles inside the library provide a seamless outside-inside connection. A transition from old to new has been created through the noticeable change from a finished ceiling in the existing building, to a partial ceiling in the addition, to a fully exposed structure in the addition.

Woodbourne Library

• Ruetschle Architects received an Honorable Mention Award for the Dayton Metro Library, Wilmington-Stroop Branch. The Dayton Metro Library Wilmington-Stroop Branch is a new library constructed to encourage active learning, civic engagement, and stimulate a strong sense of place. The floor plan is formulated around the Marketplace: an open and spacious area, inclusive of dynamic interaction and halted by a rhythmic curtain wall. Lower forms collide with the Marketplace to engage children, teen, meeting and staff areas. Physical intersections perform with color and unique material finishes. The Adult Area features a Quiet Reading Room with re-claimed wood beams from the original library. Local artists were commissioned to integrate original work.

Wilmington-Stroop Library

In the Makers category, which is a new category created to recognize an instance in which the expression of architecture and the craft of making come together, one award was made:

• Terry Welker, FAIA, Welker Studio, received an Honorable Mention for Fractal Rain, an art installation in the atrium of the Dayton Metro Library in downtown Dayton.   Fractal Rain helps create a sense of place in the Main Library’s sky-lit three story atrium and a grand staircase. The Dayton Metro Library partnered with the Dayton Art Institute to select Monet’s Waterlilies and the Chimu Mask to inspire connections to the DAI collection and the infamous 1913 Dayton Flood. This commission is a 118’ wide permanent installation comprised of 4.8 miles of electropolished stainless steel with 3756 clear and hand dyed acrylic prisms. Fractal Rain changes constantly throughout the day as it relies only on natural and ambient light to project a shared memory of rain.

Fractal Rain

In the Architectural Photography category, which was open to both members and non-members, amateur and professional photographers, three awards were made:

• Andy Snow, Andy Snow Photography, won the Grand Prize award for his photo Arcade New Glass Dome, and won the Runner-up award for All Tall Buildings_Twilight.

• Robb Brown, AIA, Levin Porter Associates, won Third Place for his photo Vault of Heaven.

The Architectural Advocacy award was given to Budde Sheet Metal, Candice, Steve and Tom Budde, for their commitment to the advancement of architecture in the Greater Miami Valley.  Budde Sheet Metal has promoted the beauty and uniqueness of hundreds of structures in our community in residential, commercial and institutional buildings.

The 2019 jury was comprised of design professionals from the American Institute of Architects Rochester, New York.  Daniel Glading, AIA, SWBR Architects, served as the jury chair and presented the awards.  

Platinum sponsors of the event were Snyder Brick & Block, Business Furniture and Andersen Windows, Supplied by Requarth.  Exclusive sponsors were Shell and Meyer Associates, the Masonry Institute of Dayton, the Greenbusch Group, Miller-Valentine Group, and Hamilton Parker.  Design Awards Book sponsors were APG-Engineered Solutions, Koroseal, and Shook Construction.  Other supporting sponsors include:  Admiral Engineering, Allegion, Bowser-Morner, Brackett Builders, Brumbaugh Construction, Dimensional Metals, Helmig Lienesch, Oswald Companies, Sherwin Williams, and the Sheet Metal and Roofing Contractors Association.  

To view photographs of the awards gala, click here.

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The 2018 AIA Dayton Focus on Design Awards Gala was held November 8 at the Masonic Center in Dayton.   The following AIA Dayton  firms were honored with awards.

To view photographs of the awards gala, click here.

Interior Projects

Honor Award - CARE House Child Advocacy Center, LWC Incorporated

Newly Completed Buildings and/or Additions

Honor Award - Alter High School Conservatory for the Arts, MODA4 Design and Design Collaborative

Honor Award - Dayton Metro Library, LWC Incorporated and Group 4 Architecture

Merit Award - Dayton Metro Library, Vandalia Branch, Ruetschle Architects

Small Projects

Honorable Mention - Modern Cottage, Earl Reeder Associates

Thank you to the generous sponsors for making the Awards Program possible.

Thank you to the following AIA Dayton member firms who participated in the Awards Program.

Andrew Circle Architect

App Architecture

Earl Reeder Associates

Levin Porter Associates

LWC Incorporated

McCall Sharp Architecture

MODA4 Design

Ruetschle Architects

Sinclair Community College Students

The Architecture Group