AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Second Harvest Community Thrift Store

Social Impact in Design Award, 2022

In the wake of a great loss for Sharpsburg, neighbors came together to respond to the closing of the community’s beloved thrift store. The former thrift store was not only an essential access point to affordable goods for the community’s residents, but it was also a place where locals frequented to meet one another. Concerned community members responded by forming a new organization, purchasing a property, and undertaking a major renovation to transform the existing building into a site that ensured dignity in the second-hand goods retail experience. The pandemic struck but it only deepened the community’s commitment to bringing a welcoming space that served the essential needs of all Sharpsburg’s residents. The resulting place is a signal of a regenerating community building the ground work for a sustainable vision and vibrant hopeful future.

The jury commented:

• We really appreciate the precedent this project sets – that there can be so much life given back to a type of functional building we see all over the country. We also appreciated the resonance of showing pride in reuse as an ethos of the thrift store, but also an ethos of the building. This is an example of how design provides dignity and community.

AIA National Housing Award

Ohringer Arts

Excellence in Affordable Housing, 2022

The Ohringer, Braddock’s iconic eight-story furniture store from 1941, has re-emerged as an Arts Incubator and affordable Artist Housing. The project follows several attempts to re-inhabit the long-vacant building with arts-based interventions. Now, the building is completely transformed to create places for professional artists to live, work, and exchange. The reactivation of this icon connects two areas of main street redevelopment, builds upon the maker culture of Braddock, and continuously illuminates the heart of community through arts.

The jury commented:

• This is a transformative project for the neighborhood and a spectacular demonstration of design and urban planning. The design team showed great respect for the building. It is a cheerful and witty project.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Ohringer Arts

Social Equity in Design Award, 2021

The Ohringer, Braddock’s iconic eight-story furniture store from 1941, has re-emerged as an Arts Incubator and affordable Artist Housing. The project follows several attempts to re-inhabit the long-vacant building with arts-based interventions. Now, the building is completely transformed to create places for professional artists to live, work, and exchange. The reactivation of this icon connects two areas of main street redevelopment, builds upon the maker culture of Braddock, and continuously illuminates the heart of community through arts.

The jury commented:

• We all saw the merits of this project. It has conceptual strength with a maximized level of execution to create a project that helps restore the historic neighborhood fabric. It simultaneously reimagines and honors the structure, being both familiar and forward-looking for the community.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Ohringer Arts

Honor Award, 2021

The Ohringer, Braddock’s iconic eight-story furniture store from 1941, has re-emerged as an Arts Incubator and affordable Artist Housing. The project follows several attempts to re-inhabit the long-vacant building with arts-based interventions. Now, the building is completely transformed to create places for professional artists to live, work, and exchange. The reactivation of this icon connects two areas of main street redevelopment, builds upon the maker culture of Braddock, and continuously illuminates the heart of community through arts.

The jury commented:

• This is a very strong adaptive reuse that is held together holistically. It was an elegant building when built, and it is elegant again. It anchors a key corner and makes an affirming statement for the community.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Ars Moriendi

Young Architects Competition Studio

The idea behind Ars Moriendi, by Jason Andrews, was largely a religious one, designed to prepare a soul for an eternal afterlife based on his own current experience with his father.

The jury commented:

• The designer portrayed a great understanding of the design criteria while meeting an immediate physical and psychological need for themselves, and a dear family member. The level of clarity and communicating the intent was outstanding. The design provided flexibility and serenity in a quickly changing world and was also representative of the fragility of our transient lives and captured how important our human connections with each other in our surroundings truly are.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Center for Urban Education

Certificate of Merit, 2020

The Center for Urban Education sought to extend the useful life of a large, antiquated building on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus by becoming a model for the feasible adaptive reuse of an office suite located inside. Constructed in an era where human health and wellness weren’t considered, Posvar Hall offered dark, disconnected, and disorienting interior spaces that didn’t reflect the evolving and nurturing culture of the University of Pittsburgh.

Working within the challenging parameters of an existing concrete structure, the Design Team aimed to make physical enhancements to the space that would boost the health & wellness of users. Natural light, warmth and activity were invited into the building, and spaces were reconfigured to reflect the open and diverse culture of the Center for Urban Education.

The jury commented:

• Center for Urban Education breaks away from the rigid geometry of the existing building and boldly resets its rules on spatial interaction within the academic setting.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

The Cheswick House

Certificate of Merit, 2020

Creating a living environment that is integrated with its’ natural setting requires a strong response to the unique conditions of place. The awareness of the senses to the natural surrounding and circadian rhythms promote human health and wellbeing. This is fundamental to the conceptual planning and follow-through in the home design. A strong environment awareness and biophilic design response enhances the idea of living with nature as part of it. The design works to minimize impact on the surrounding environmental conditions demonstrating a respect for it. The experience is supported through a planned sequence that transitions you into a living environment elevated within an existing tree canopy. The resulting home is one with exceptional performance, promotes health and wellbeing for the occupants, is in balance with its’ natural setting, and provides continual discovery and connection to our natural environment.

The jury commented:

• The Cheswick House stands out with strong consideration for sustainability and thoughtful relationship to the natural site.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

In Service to Refugees

Social Equity In Design Award, 2020

On a pro bono basis, our firm collaborated with Hello Neighbor, a local organization that serves refugee families, to support them in a programming, visioning, and stakeholder engagement process.

Their dream for a Clubhouse in which Pittsburghers and refugee families could build community together was envisioned in a series of collaborative workshops. Our volunteer efforts culminated in a 125-page design book that joined our two organizations to address social issues critical to the health of our city.

The jury commented:

• In Service of Refugees demonstrates a series of collaborative strategies for bringing varied constituencies together to vision, plan and fundraise for a common cause.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

TechMill 41

Certificate of Merit, 2020

TechMill 41 is a speculative office building that relates strongly to the unique contexts that surround the building and connects to the rich industrial heritage of the former steel mill site. The project combines new construction with the renovation and adaptive reuse of a former industrial Machine Shop. The site is a former brownfield, adjacent to the 40th Street Bridge and Allegheny River. The site is also adjacent to the iconic structural frame of the Bay 41 Public Plaza. The building rises from the ashes of Pittsburgh’s gritty industrial past. The memory of the industrial heritage of the site became a powerful inspiration for the design. Forms and materials relate to the former steel mill buildings and connects history with the present.

The jury commented:

• TechMill 41 Office Building relishes in the industrial past along the Alleghany River while introducing a contemporary building language and new density of use for the site. Efforts to integrate textures, artifacts and parts of old buildings with new interventions recontextualize the entire development.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Unitarian Universalist Church of the South Hills

Certificate of Merit, 2020

The Congregation previously converted this single-family hilltop home into their place of worship. Due to suburban housing growth around the originally expansive English-cottage style estate, the site area had been reduced and constrained over time, which limited the options for expansion. The thriving Congregation needed an expanded facility that better represented their spirituality, beliefs, and community.

The new outward-focused sanctuary is a beacon atop Sunnyhill. The constrained site boundaries are overlapping and reconciled, like the Unitarian and Universalist religions had come together to create a unified whole. The resulting new site axis creates a dynamic space that unifies the geometry of the existing building and the site, harmonizes the manufactured steel and natural wood materials, and focuses the dual outward and inward unity of the Congregation. Additionally, the original inward-focused sanctuary was converted into a new Social Hall. These meaningful design drivers culminate in the uplifting and inspirational new Sanctuary.

The jury commented:

• Sunnyhill Unitarian Universalist Church presents a thoughtful juxtaposition between old and new, inside and outside. The modest material palette combined with elegant form are a breath of fresh air.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Sandstone Quarry Apartments

Certificate of Merit, 2020

Seeking to improve the quality of life for their residents, the Housing Authority engaged the development team to re-envision the Allegheny Dwellings Community on multiple sites over time with the goal of connecting to the surrounding community with a mixed-income development over multiple phases.

Sandstone Quarry, the first phase of development, transforms the isolated “barracks” style housing into a connected site with apartment and townhomes that take advantage of the spectacular city views opening up the site with a central park space.

The jury commented:

• Sandstone Quarry Apartments design presents a fresh vision for the mixed-income site. The reconfigured building orientation helps establish new connections and potential for vibrant community development.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Women’s Center and Shelter

Social Equity in Design Award, 2019

The jury commented:

• We appreciate the process the firm went through to deeply understand the specific needs of this vulnerable and underserved population and integrating those needs into the sanctuary-like design.
• The shelter is equitable and accessible for women – and their children – of any background or circumstance. The project was executed with great sensitivity to the full spectrum of needs, with safety and building trusting relationships at the forefront.

U.S. Green Building Council

Penn at 29th

LEED Gold Certified

U.S. Green Building Council

The Midwife Center

LEED Silver Certified

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

The Foundry at 41st

Citation of Merit in Architecture, 2017

The jury commented:

• This project handles its public spaces really well.  The folding doors in the interior shared space are a really nice connection to the outside space, the courtyard and patio.
• The common roof deck is a great amenity given there is already an attractive outdoor space on the ground floor.
• The steel bay mirrors the nearby bridge system nicely, and makes the development mirror its surroundings.
• Overall the project sets a good precedent for whatever comes next in the neighborhood; it’s an invitation to quality.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

501 Braddock

Honor Award in Regional and Urban Design, 2017

The jury commented:

• The process and respect for the existing neighborhood is apparent. This is meaningful community engagement – which resulted in a project that translated community needs and desires into a new built environment with good spatial configuration and a program that provides more community services than what was there before. A project like this is not easy to pull off on a lot of levels.
• The process, problem solving, planning and the architecture are all well done. It feels so complete.
• The project is as much about transforming a community environment as it is about the buildings. The project team cared a lot about the process of community engagement; this comes through clearly.

AIA Pennsylvania Award for Architectural Excellence

The Discovery of Bay 4

Citation of Merit in Regional and Urban Design

The jury commented:

• Transformative! Less is more. An intervention that will re-engage the edge of the city and make a strong urban connection.
• Simple idea with transformative change. Successful subtraction.
• Great vision and urban planning intervention.
• Simple and ingenious public amenity. Iconic.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

The Discovery of Bay 4

Certificate of Merit in Regional + Urban Design, 2016

Jury comments: “This is a wonderful narrative and discovery of a purpose built structure and its transformation. Utilizing an internal armature as a ‘bridge’ to the river—an urban stitch enabling public connection through a future development— it became a powerful icon of the past as a vision to the future. It’s an interesting tenant and study for how we define and value existing conditions for future development.”

AIA National Honor Award

Sant Lespwa, Center of Hope

Architecture, 2015

“The representation of what design can do and how it can build community is evident for this climate and this community. The way this project sustainably translates energy and architecture to this community is praiseworthy. This building does things that do not always get done, let alone done well, and the architects did a lot of those things nicely, elegantly and simply. This is a very simple yet beautiful design—it is also pragmatic, fundamental, and responsive. The butterfly roof and the articulation of the trusses are particularly worth noting.”

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Butterfly Balconies

Award of Excellence, 2014

The jury was impressed with how this project transformed and greatly enhanced the existing building. The project stands on its own, and enlivens the entire site. This solution leverages an aged building failure to be much more than a simple in-kind repair.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Gateway Youth Center

Certificate of Merit, 2014

The jury commented that “We liked how this building reflects the hillside. The architect took care to leverage the view. There is a simplicity, but clarity to the composition. The panels add a textural quality to the building. The interiors have a nice use of daylight.”

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

The Overlook

Certificate of Merit, 2014

With this development, the architects knit together the community, helping to heal the wound created by the demise of the hospital. Organized around a new public space, the jury liked that the building design puts a lot of entrances on the street and enhances the pedestrian activity. The architects should be applauded for their bold moves that led to an attractive and well-scaled subsidized housing community.

10,000 Friends of PA Commonwealth Award

Almono Vision

Planning Award

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Sant Lespwa, Center of Hope

Honor Award, 2013

The jury was impressed with the degree of design quality that the architects achieved while involving members of the community in the design and construction process. The project clearly acknowledges the vernacular architecture of the area while elevating the aspirations of the community.

AIA Pennsylvania Design Award

Sant Lespwa, Center of Hope

Citation of Merit, 2013

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Almono Vision

Honor Award, 2012

This is a very thoughtful plan that considers the diverse challenges to bringing back a community in decline. The architect successfully transforms the challenges into opportunities by presenting a doable vision, which would bring value to the existing community and its people as well as the region.

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

South Hills Retirement Residence

Award of Excellence & Green Citation Award, 2012

This adaptive reuse project exemplifies our societal contract to be good to each other. The architect skillfully takes a building built by and for the public and transforms and recycles it to serve the elderly. It shows a nice synergy of life expectancy. This is a valuable addition to the neighborhood.

EcoHome Design Awards

South Hills Retirement Residence

EcoHome Design Grand Award, 2012

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

The Avenue Apartments

Certificate of Merit, 2011

The jury was impressed with the architect’s efforts to engage the community in developing their history, which is represented graphically in the testimonial wall. This soulful project has a certain scale that works and an industrial layer that makes it quite interesting. Very well done on a very low budget.

AIA Pennsylvania Design Award

Chatham University, Mellon Hall

Certificate of Merit, 2011

“This rehabilitation is very well done. We particularly liked the adaptive reuse of the old swimming pool space to a meeting room. This is a beautiful interior with the tile ceiling preserved. The excavation of the facade was handled well. We loved the exterior wall treatment with the exposed stone base.”

AIA Tri-State Design Award

Chatham University, Mellon Hall

Certificate of Merit, 2011

AIA New Jersey, AIA New York State and AIA Pennsylvania held the 2011 AIA Tri-State Design Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The goal was to unite members of the profession and explore intellectually stimulating and thought provoking topics. The design awards were a central part of the event. Awards submissions were the most recent year’s winners from the three states awards programs. The Excavation of Mellon Hall at Chatham University was selected as one of only two Honor Awards from Pennsylvania.

U.S. Green Building Council

Chatham University, Eastside Campus

LEED Silver

U.S. Green Building Council

South Hills Retirement Residence

LEED Gold

Best New Multi-Family Home of the Year Under $250,000

Federal Hill

2010

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Penn at 29th

Certificate of Merit, 2009

“The jury admired this modest adaptive reuse that transformed the existing building into a vibrant part of a new urban street fabric while keeping the utilitarian nature of the original garage intact. The jury found it both skillful and lively in the weaving of the large scale and the intimate scale, and of urban and tectonic gestures. In this same light, it is a model for renovating buildings that can express a respect for the tradition of simple and honest structures alongside the complexities of new programs and urban roles.”

Master Builders' Association of Western Pennsylvania

Master Builders’ Association

MBA Building Excellence Award for Special Recognition, 2009

Master Builders' Association of Western Pennsylvania

Sarah Heinz House

Best New Construction Under $10 Million, 2009

Smart Growth Planning Award

Laurel Highlands Village

2009

Western Pennsylvania Golden Trowel Award

Chatham University, Mellon Hall

Best of Category: Restoration, 2009

Western Pennsylvania Golden Trowel Award

National Cemetery of the Alleghenies

Best of Category: Municipal / Institutional, 2009

U.S. Green Building Council

Master Builders’ Association

LEED Gold Certified

U.S. Green Building Council

Sarah Heinz House

LEED Gold Certified

AIA Pittsburgh Design Awards

Chatham University, Mellon Hall

Architecture, Honor Award, 2008

“This is a beautiful restoration of an existing space. The architect made the space come to life. Unearthing the pool was a great concept, and then the architect took it a step further by using and respecting the original architecture, which they uncovered. They did an exquisite job of adding new elegant details, such as windows and doors, which are in the spirit of the old building but beautiful in the world of today. The level of craftsmanship on these newly inserted pieces is extraordinary. The architects practiced great restraint and left the building real. The result is a gem of a building for this campus.”

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Sarah Heinz House

Architecture, Certificate of Merit, 2008

“We liked the way the architect used sunlight to activate the function of the building. This project energizes a whole neighborhood. The barriers that kept the community away were broken down by letting the neighborhood see what was happening inside the space. The jury liked the sophisticated use of materials in the interior spaces. The spaces are sturdy and durable as they should be, but are treated with care and sensitivity.”

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Rediscover History! High Street District

Urban Design, Certificate of Merit, 2007

“Newark is an American city most in need of planning and renewal, which is tough given its history. The project demonstrates a political planning process that was completed very successfully. A number of social stalemates came to an end as a result of the planning process. The graphics are lively, and contribute to the sense that we are looking at separate interventions. The architects show a genuine interest and concern for the development of place. The project demonstrates the efficacy of political planning as an important strand within the design discipline.”

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

The River’s Edge of Oakmont

Urban Design, Honor Award, 2007

“This is a very nice juicy urban design task, a discreet site in a well-shaped context. A planner’s tools are graphics, and this plan has precise and intuitive graphics. The architect practiced great restraint. This project is lucid, very well executed, and integrates a great site into a larger context.”

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Riverview Canopy

Open Plan, Award of Excellence, 2007

“Among the several reasons to admire the Pittsburgh AIA Chapter, the jury appreciated this “Open” Category to recognize good work subgenres. The Riverview Canopy seems just such a category buster. The simple task, which could be seen as an adjustment to a building without a weather protected entry walkway, instead took on a poetic program in an articulate form and a robust engineering aesthetic. The result provides a lovely place to wait in the rain, hearing and seeing it fall.”

Associated Builders & Contractors of Western Pennsylvania

Laurel Highlands Village

Award of Merit, 2007

Associated Builders & Contractors of Western Pennsylvania

The Legacy

Award of Merit

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Fairmont

Architecture, Certificate of Merit, 2006

“This is a very smart project. It employs many sound traditional urban strategies while managing to keep the design fresh and modern. Nice detailing in spite of a very tight budget. Kept it simple with correct proportions. The architects achieved a design that accomplished much more than its budget might have implied. The use of geometry is very purposeful in breaking up and scaling the buildings. It is a restrained but thoughtful response to the precedent set across the street without being slavishly historic. Simple gestures in the rhythm and the palette.”

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Penn-Fairmont Master Plan

Urban Design, Certificate of Merit, 2006

“The architectural project was worthy of more recognition because of what they accomplished from an urban design standpoint with a very limited budget. The design plan is a hopeful expression of what it means to have an urban community.”

US Green Building Council

Unitarian Universalist Church of Wayne County

LEED Gold, 2006

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

A Vision for the Center of East Liberty

Urban Design, Certificate of Merit, 2005

“The plan deals with the convergence of a number of street systems. It is a very important strategy for the neighborhood. Each road spoke is identified, and recommendations are made for redevelopment. The plan identifies the character of each corridor and works to strengthen its identity. This project takes a large neighborhood and figures out the pieces.”

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Chatham College Center for Art & Design

Interior Design, Certificate of Merit, 2005

“It is interesting as an insertion and a reuse of a space. It is a successful adaptive reuse and celebrates a system of elements, they are appropriate and well detailed. The elements totally reveal what was there before. The spirit of the original space is still there.”

AIA Pittsburgh Design Award

Univ. of Pitt Honors College

Interior Design , Certificate of Merit, 2004

City of Pittsburgh & The Historical Review Commission

Univ. of Pitt Honors College

Historic Preservation Award, 2004

Master Builders Association of Western Pennsylvania

Univ. of Pitt Honors College

Excellence in Craftsmanship, 2004