Virginia Tech architecture faculty, students, and alumni honored by Virginia Architects
The Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects announced the recipients of its 2011 Awards for Excellence in Architecture and faculty and alumni of Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture + Design, part of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, were well-represented among the honorees.
The Virginia Tech LumenHAUS, a solar-power home that requires no outside energy, won the Honor Award in the architecture category. LumenHAUS, which also won the 2010 Solar Decathlon Europe in Madrid, Spain, was designed and built by a team of students and faculty. Faculty members Joseph Wheeler, Robert Schubert, David Clark, and Robert Dunay were specifically named in the award citation.
A 17-member student design team lead by professors Keith and Marie Zawistowski called design/buildLAB won a Merit Award in the architecture category for the new Covington Farmers Market in Covington, Va. The team designed and built the market over a single academic year after carefully researching the site and gathering local input. The new market formally opened in the summer of 2011 and is part of a broader effort to revitalize downtown Covington.
Several graduates of the school were also honored, including an honor award and a citation award for David Jameson, of Alexandria, Va., who was credited for two private residences. Jameson received a bachelor of architecture degree from Virginia Tech in 1990. Reader & Swartz Architects in Winchester, Va., received the Sir John Soane Personality Award for their design of Loft Upon Cork private residence in Winchester. The firm is headed by Beth Reader and Chuck Swartz, who both received bachelor of architecture degrees in 1986 from Virginia Tech.
Held annually, the Awards for Excellence in Architecture recognize projects no older than five years that contribute to the built environment as clear examples of thoughtful and engaging design. More than 130 entries in the categories of Architecture, Historic Preservation, and Interior Design were reviewed by three separate juries.
For his part, A. Jack Davis, dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies said the awards reflect the excellence of the college’s architecture and design faculty and programs, which have been ranked among the top in the country for much of the past decade. “We believe it’s important for our students to have opportunities be engaged in sustainable, meaningful design from conception through construction,” Davis said. “These award winning projects are the result of faculty led, collaborative teams, professionally executed for advanced research and community rebirth.”
The award recipients will be honored during Architecture Exchange East, at the Visions for Architecture gala on Nov. 4, 2011, in Design 2011, a special exhibition at the Virginia Center for Architecture opening on Oct. 20, 2011, and in Inform magazine’s annual directory.
