K-12 Educational Facilities Design Award Winners Announced

Common design elements included drawing in natural light and easy-to clean surfaces.

Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 7/26/2007

Bronx Lighthouse Charter School (Bronx NY)

The Boston Society of Architects and the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects recently held their third-annual K-12 Educational Facilities Design Awards, honoring outstanding public and private education projects.

A jury of industry professionals selected nine winners from 54 submissions. Jury members included Umberto Dindo AIA (Dindo Architect, New York City); Stuart Lesser AIA (Joslin, Lesser + Associates, Cambridge MA); Jennifer Marsh AIA (Mowery Marsh Architects, Hoboken NJ); and Jennifer Pinck (Pinck & Co., Boston).

Among the winning projects are an adapted warehouse, a ballet school, and a courtyard for an inner city school.

"We found similarities in finish and materials choice that may indicate that architects and builders have reached an interpretive plateau in the quest to provide well-designed places for teachers and children," the jury noted, and stressed the "tremendous challenges involved in making huge, sometimes inelegant, spaces feel intimate enough to support programs for children."

Trends included core atriums drawing in natural light and hard, easy-to clean surfaces.

A complete list of winners is below. Visit BSA (pdf) for jury comments.

Honor Awards for Design Excellence

The Atrium School (Watertown MA) for The Atrium School designed by Maryann Thompson Architects (Cambridge MA)…Michael Blier (landscape architect, Boston); Bowdoin Construction Corporation (contractor, Needham MA); Richmond So Engineers, Inc. (structural engineer, Cambridge MA); Wozny/Barbar Associates (MEP/FP engineer, Hanover MA); Gail Simon Associates (civil engineer, Belmont MA); The Green Engineer (Acton MA); Schirmer Engineering (code consultant, Framingham MA)

Stephen Gaynor School & Ballet Hispanico (New York City) for Stephen Gaynor School & Ballet Hispanico

(project manager, New York City) Severud Associates Consulting Engineers (structural

engineer, New York City); Flack and Kurtz (MEP engineer, New York City); Axis Group

Limited (curtainwall consultant, New York City); Van Deusen & Associates (elevator

consultant, Livingston NJ); Robert A. Hansen Associates (acoustic consultant, New York

City); Turner Construction Company (contractor, New York City)

Awards for Design Excellence

Center for Marine and Nautical Sciences, Tabor Academy (Marion MA)

for Tabor Academy

(MEP engineering, Exeter RI); TEC Tibbets Engineering Corp. (civil engineer, Taunton

MA); Robert A. Cattley, PE RLS (structural engineering, Mattapoisett MA); Suffolk

Construction (contractor, Boston MA); Aaron Usher III Photography (photography,

Pawtucket RI)

The Reece School (New York City) for The Reece School

(owner’s representative, New York City); Anastos Engineering (structural engineer, New

York City); Shen Milsom Wilke (MEP engineer, New York City); Cosentini Lighting

Design (lighting consultant); Peter Scherer (graphic design, Pleasantville NY); The Stegla Group general contractor, New York City); GTA Engineering Services of New

York (geotechnical engineer, Somerset NJ)

Auburn High School (Auburn MA) for Town of Auburn

manager, Boston MA); Judith Nitsch Engineering (structural engineer, Boston MA);

Tavares Design Associates (food service/furniture and equipment, Arlington MA); Boston Building Consultants (structural engineering, Boston MA); TMP Consulting Engineers (MEP engineer, Boston MA); Edvance (technology specification, Chelmsford MA)

Citation for Interior Courtyard Design

John C. Daniels School (New Haven CT) for New Haven Public Schools

manager, Brandford CT); URS Greiner Woodward Clyde (MEP and structural engineer,

Pocky Hill CT); BL Companies (landscape architect, civil engineer, Meriden CT);

O’Dey, Lynch, Abbattista Consulting Engineers (energy modeling, Hawthorne NY);

Steven Winter Associates (building systems, environmental consultant, New York City);

McFarland Kistler Associates (food service consultant, Pittsburgh PA); Earth Design

Associates (geotechnical engineer, Hartford CT); Thomas A. Torrenti, PC (structural

peer review, Orange CT); Izzo Consulting and Training (security consultants); Joseph

Simeone Architects (consultants, New Haven CT)

Citation for Site Innovation

Robert Almy Jr. Academic Center (Chestnut Hill MA)

for Brimmer and May School

(owner’s project manager); Richard White Sons (construction manager, Auburndale

MA); LeMessurier Consultants (structural engineer, Cambridge MA); Haley & Aldrich

(geotechnical engineer, Boston MA); Geller DeVellis (civil engineer/sports/landscape,

Wellesley MA); TMP Consulting Engineers (MEP/FP engineer)

Citation for Urban Design/Iconic Contribution to Streetscape

Bronx Lighthouse Charter School (Bronx NY) for Civic Builders

Engineers (ME engineer, Hackensack NJ); Robert Silman Associates (structural engineer,

New York City); S. Digiacomo & Son (contractor, New York City)

Citation for Furnishings/Millwork

Public School 19 Library (Queens NY

Public School 46 Library (Bronx, NY) for The Robin Hood Foundation in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education designed by Tsao & McKown Architects (New York City)…William Armstrong Lighting Design (lighting, New York City); Lynn Pauley & Raghavea Kalanaraman (artists); F. J. Sciame Construction Co. (construction manager, New York City); Eastco Building Services (contractor, Deer Park, NY); International Woodwork (millwork, Queens Village NY); Pentagram (graphic design, New York City)