The Kansas City architectural design community and an abundance of generous industry sponsors showed up in full force today at The Guild to celebrate the Best Designs of 2021 at the AIA Kansas City Design Excellence Awards.
After a whirlwind year and a half of uncertainty, “Be Inspired” was the calling from the AIA Kansas City Chapter to press on into 2022 and beyond.
Jurors had their work cut out for them as they reviewed over 50 architectural projects, 15 interior spaces, 15 inspiring concepts and 12 detail-oriented submittals. Local architectural firms submitted projects from across the globe, some as far off as the Virgin Islands.
The submittals were judged on citation, merit, honor and for addressing sustainability.
“We must hold each other accountable for sustainability, and 27 percent of the submittals met the 2030 challenge to address climate change proactively,” said co-chair for the event, Galen Lif, AIA, with Gould Evans. https://architecture2030.org/2030_challenges/2030-challenge/
Highlights from the event include the ‘2021 Professionals Choice Award’ - the award recipient chosen by the architects- was given to Southeast Community College Academic Excellence Center in Beatrice, Nebr., designed by Gould Evans, BVH Architecture and built by Hausmann Construction.
The much-anticipated ‘Project of the Year’ was awarded to the low-profile Lone Oaks Farm Hunters Education Station, designed by El Dorado and built by MSB Construction. https://eldo.us/lone-oaks-farm-phase-i-implementation. Selected for its design excellence, relationship to the landscape and expressiveness when offering shelter, the project is an example of how simplicity can be wonderful.
More information on all the winners can be found at https://www.aiakc.org/ and the link for the AIA 2021 Design Excellence Awards is located here: https://issuu.com/aiakc/docs/aiaexcellence-book_final_
Categories according to building scale include: Architecture, Interior Architecture, Concept and Divine Detail.
Jurors included Scott Erdy, FAIA, with Erdy McHenry Architecture http://em-arc.com/
Jeff Goldstein, FAIA Principal and co-founding partner at DIGSAU http://www.digsau.com/projects,
And Zinat Yusufzai, AIA principal at KieranTimberlake https://kierantimberlake.com/
The presentation was moderated by Stephenie K. Smith, MSW at Sophic Solutions https://www.sophicsolutionsgroup.com/about and Tony Smith of the Kansas City Art Institute. https://kcai.edu/?kcai_staff=tony-jones-cbe
Co-chairs for the event include Galen Lif, AIA, Gould Evans; Ashley Renfrew, AIA, HNTB; and Meghan Masterson, AIA, DLR Group.
The Design Excellence Awards Committee includes Chris Armer, AIA Hoefer Welker; Melissa Brown, AIA Hollis + Miller Architects; Doug Hurt, AIA Dake|Wells Architecture; Wilson Meeks, ACI Boland; and Annie Merrill, HOK.