Top row, left to right: 510, Bell Museum, Countryside Community Church, Second + Second. Bottom row, left to right: St. Paul Academy and Summit School Upper School Addition and Renovation, St. Paul Residences, Westwood Hills Nature Center, Electric Bungalow, Spring Creek Residence, X House.
MINNEAPOLIS, December 4, 2020— AIA Minnesota honored seven projects with 2020 AIA Minnesota Honor Awards, and three projects with Framework for Design Excellence Commendations. The awards and commendations were announced at the AIA Minnesota Virtual Awards Celebration. Established by the American Institute of Architects Minnesota in 1954, the Honor Awards recognize outstanding built projects by AIA Minnesota members, or firms that are owned by AIA Minnesota members, that practice professionally in Minnesota.
New in 2020, the AIA Minnesota Honor Awards submissions were evaluated according to the AIA Framework for Design Excellence, in alignment with AIA National Architecture Awards. Achievement within the Framework for Design Excellence requires a holistic approach to design, addressing the interdependence among people, buildings, infrastructure, and the environment. The Framework focuses on ten categories: Design for Integration, Design for Equitable Communities, Design for Ecosystems, Design for Water, Design for Economy, Design for Energy, Design for Well-being, Design for Resources, Design for Change, and Design for Discovery.
Fifty-nine projects were submitted in 2020 and were evaluated by three internationally renowned architects: Andrea Love, AIA, Payette, Boston; Patricia Rhee, FAIA, EYRC, Los Angeles; and Barry Alan Yoakum, FAIA, Archimania, Memphis.
The jury was impressed by the overall quality of all the submissions and noted the large number of impressive residential submissions. The seven Honor Award recipients and three Commendation recipients were particularly lauded for their sustainability in design, construction, and building performance; sophisticated, fresh, yet often simple designs; and overall harmony between design, vision, accessibility, and beauty. These projects were praised by the jury as inspirations in various ways, particularly in terms of sustainability features and processes.
2020 Honor Award Recipients:
Project name: 510
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Client: MSR Design
Firm of record: MSR Design
Project partners: BKBM Engineers; Stahl Construction Company; MEP Associates, a Salas O’Brien Company
Photo credit: Lara Swimmer
510, an ultra-sustainable workplace renovation, is MSR’s new studio in a downtown historic building. The firm designed the 14,400-square-foot space to achieve Living Building Challenge Petal certification for the materials, beauty, and equity petals.
Lauded in the categories of Design for Energy; Design for Well-being; Design for Resources, and Design for Change. The jury was impressed by this ultra-sustainable workplace, which meets Living Building Challenge Certification for Materials, Building, and Equity, and felt it was a great example of sustainable corporate design.
Project name: Bell Museum
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Client: University of Minnesota, Bell Museum
Firm of record: Perkins and Will
Project partners: McGough Construction; Palanisami & Associates, Inc.; Michaud Cooley Erickson Engineering Solutions; Pierce Pini & Associates, Inc.; True North Consulting Group; Lerch Bates; Evans & Sutherland; Gallagher & Associates
Photo credit: Corey Gaffer
Famous for its nature dioramas, the Bell Museum celebrates the conservation of Minnesota’s natural resources with a 90,000-square-foot building shaped to be a “Living Diorama” itself, and a five-acre site designed to serve as a learning landscape for visitors of all ages.
Lauded in the categories of Design for Integration; Design for Ecosystems; Design for Water; Design for Resources; and Design for Change. Beyond the impressive list of sustainability measures, this project was noted for its beautiful details, materiality, and engagement with the site and the community.
Project name: Countryside Community Church
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Client: Countryside Community Church
Firm of record: HGA Architects and Engineers jointly with Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture
Project partners: Charles Vrana and Son Construction Company; Verdis Group
Photo credit: Corey Gaffer
This new 65,000-square-foot church shares a site with a temple and a mosque, the first such arrangement in the U.S. The congregation sought a welcoming, environmentally responsive, and technologically astute building designed in the spirit of its time.
Lauded in the categories of Design for Integration; Design for Equitable Communities; and Design for Well-being. The jury noted the church’s synergy of vision, program, and artistry, and its overall feeling of inclusivity, accessibility, and beauty, and embodiment of the spirit of worship.
Project name: Second + Second
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Client: Solaris Redevelopment Co.
Firm of record: Snow Kreilich Architects
Project partners: Weis Builders (General Contractor); Marx | Okubo (Owners Rep, Accessibility Consulting); TEN x TEN (Landscape Architect); MBJ (Structural Engineering); Elan Design Lab (Civil Engineering); New History (Historic Preservation); TM Light (Specialty Lighting); Collins (Electrical Engineer, design-build); Major Mechanical (Mechanical Engineer, design-build); Fabick Architects (Specifications); James Larson, RA (Consulting Architect); Summit (Code Consulting); Fluid Interiors (Furniture); Serigraphics (Signage)
Photo credit: Pete VonDeLinde
A fabric building in the best sense of the word, this six-level, 158-unit, mixed-use housing development uses full-height brick to weave itself into its Warehouse District environment. A landscaped, open-to-the-public central courtyard integrates with ground-level retail.
Lauded in the categories of Design for Integration and Design for Economy. The jury appreciated the economy of this multifamily residential building and the way it integrates into an overall contextual harmony while still feeling fresh and to human scale.
Project name: St. Paul Academy and Summit School Upper School Addition and Renovation
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Client: St. Paul Academy and Summit School
Firm of record: HGA Architects and Engineers
Project partners: McGough Construction
Photo credit: Hall and Merrick Photographers
This project consists of a 40,000-square-foot addition to and 38,000-square-foot renovation of a private school in a residential neighborhood. The contemporary design had to live well with the school’s three other eras of architecture on that corner of the campus.
Lauded in the categories of Design for Integration and Design for Change. The jury felt this project represents a successful response to a difficult design challenge of designing within the context of buildings of different historical eras. The result is a timeless yet modern, well-scaled design complex.
Project name: St. Paul Residences
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Firm of record: Snow Kreilich Architects
Project partners: Streeter Custom Builder (General Contractor); TVL Studio (Landscape Architect); Ericksen Roed & Associates (Structural Engineering); Pierce Pini & Associates, Inc. (Civil Engineering); James Larson, RA (Consulting Architect)
Photo credit: Corey Gaffer
This is a pair of new contemporary residences on the same property, a larger home designed for aging-in-place for a husband and wife, and a smaller home for a family member with a developmental condition and his caregivers.
Lauded in the categories of Design for Integration, Design for Well-being, and Design for Change. Sophisticated and refined, this project was noted for its modern look that took inspiration from its residential context, and the way it accommodates a range of lifestyles, from alternative care to remote working to aging in place.
Project name: Westwood Hills Nature Center
Location: St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Client: City of St. Louis Park
Firm of record: HGA Architects and Engineers
Project partners: Integral Group; Split Rock Studios; RJM Construction; Barr Engineering
Photo credit: Peter J. Sieger
This new 13,500-square-foot interpretive center for a 160-acre nature preserve is a zero-energy building with a raft of sustainability features. The project was designed as a pilot for the first-ring suburb’s Green Building Program and Climate Action Plan.
Lauded in the categories of Design for Integration, Design for Equitable Communities, Design for Ecosystems, Design for Water, Design for Energy, Design for Resources, Design for Discovery, and Design for Change. The jury was impressed by this zero-energy nature center, which they felt was well aligned with its goal of the building being a teaching tool itself, and recognized it as a great model for nature centers in the future.
2020 Recipients of a Commendation for Excellence in a Single Framework for Design Excellence Measure:
Project name: Electric Bungalow
Commendation for Excellence in Design for Energy
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Client: Thomas Fisher and Claudia Wielgorecki
Firm of record: Salmela Architect
Project partners: Meyer Borgman Johnson (Structural Engineering); Cates Fine Homes (Contractor)
Photo credit: Corey Gaffer
This is a three-bedroom, solar-powered, aging-in-place, environmentally friendly modern house with enough flexibility of form and fenestration to adapt to any lot. In other words, it aims to model a sustainable future for urban neighborhoods.
The jury highlighted this project’s exemplary job fusing sustainability with design, with a focus on reducing the project’s embodied carbon. They also appreciate the whimsical yet intentional fenestration, and detailing that feels modern yet respects the home’s residential context.
Project name: Spring Creek Residence
Commendation for Excellence in Design for Economy
Location: Northfield, Minnesota
Firm of record: VJAA Inc.
Project partners: Murphy Curran and Jason Pederson, Meyer Borgman Johnson (Structural); Jim Bullard, EarthWood Builders Inc. (Contractor)
Photo credit: Nate Steuerwald, AIA / VJAA Inc.
Located in a newly developed subdivision, this comparatively small, solar-powered, expectations-defying home is composed of the main house, a garage, and a private courtyard in between sheltered by a long entrance wall.
Lauded as a great model for future residential design by building only what is needed and will be used most on a daily basis, this project was recognized by the jury for its stark simplicity, beauty, pragmatic design, and the way it “quietly minds its own business” in its new residential development.
Project name: X House
Commendation for Excellence in Design for Integration
Location: Marquette, Michigan
Firm of record: Snow Kreilich Architects
Project partners: Hall Construction and GHS Construction (General Contractors); Meyer Borgman Johnson (Structural Engineer); Flourishes, LLC (Landscape Architect); Jim Larson, RA (Consulting Architect)
Photo credit: Corey Gaffer
This project is a single-family retreat laid out as an asymmetrical X on rocky terrain overlooking Lake Superior. With its floor-to-ceiling glass and minimalist detailing, the home immerses its owners in the shoreline forest.
The jury felt this project was extremely well crafted in its detail, representing a unity of design and sustainable, high energy performance. It balances its context with a refined character in form and materiality, and nestles beautifully into its site.
The American Institute of Architects Minnesota, founded in 1892, is dedicated to strengthening our communities, improving our built environment, and providing exceptional design. For more information on the organization and Minnesota architectural firms, reference our website, visit our Facebook page, and pick up a copy of Architecture MN, our award-winning magazine.
