CIVIC DESIGN AWARDS
PRESENTED MAY 18th, 2007

Nine local civic works earned Civic Design Awards for their superior design and were honored at a recent luncheon at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle. The Miller/Hull Partnership, Mithun, Heliotrope, INTEGRUS Architecture, Schacht Aslani Architects, and Johnston Architects all received awards for their commitment to creating civic spaces with a sensitivity to design and usability.

The Civic Design Awards program identifies public projects that are hallmarks of civic design. The Honor Award is given to a project that not only embodies design excellence, but also shows a certain amount of creative risk taking and problem solving. Civic projects earn the Merit Award by exemplifying their particular type of civic space, and the Citation Award is an acknowledgment of quality design based on individual reasons.

The jurors for this year’s awards were a team of three: Alex Anderson, Ph.D, Assistant Chair & Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture, University of Washington; Gregory Kessler, Architect, AIA, Director with the School of Architecture & Construction Management, Washington State University; and Tom Henderson, Hon. AIA/WA, State Board for Community & Technical Colleges.

Public Agencies and Architect Firms Receiving Awards:

Citation Awards

Ross Park Shelter House
Architect: Heliotrope Architects
Agency: City of Seattle Dept. of Parks and Recreation

Photo Credit: Benjamin Benschneider

Jury Comments: This building is an excellent example of taking what most would consider a utilitarian, even banal building and transforming it into an event. The jury was impressed with how the architects made this building significant for the local neighborhood – even though it is essentially only a restroom building – and integrated it into its context. From the large overhang facing the park, which serves as both protection and greeting, to the integration of community artwork, the building displays sensitivity and strength that exceeds its scale. The garden roof is also a unique aspect of the building. While it may not be justified in terms energy or costs, it illustrates to the community the need for buildings to integrate sensitively to the environment. The care in detailing, material selection and site considerations are exemplary for projects of similar scale and context.

Zoomazium
Architect: Mithun
Agency: Woodland Park Zoo/Seattle Parks and Recreation

Jury Comments: The Zoomazium provides education about our environment through experience of program and design. The program for the building gives visitors opportunities to gain understanding of the natural world and emphasizes the importance of conserving natural habitats. At the same time the building serves as a model for this educational message. The building exhibits sensitivity to the immediate context through the integration of natural lighting and ventilation, water retention, and a green roof. The structure, building materials and detailing also contribute to the learning experience. This small, well-proportioned building evokes care and understanding towards our environment. The building is an excellent example of harmony between sustainability and aesthetics.

Merit Awards

Mercerview Community Center
Firm: The Miller/Hull Partnership
Agency: City of Mercer Island

Photo Credit: Nic Lehoux

Jury Comments: This 43,000 square foot community center situated in a city park on Mercer Island packs a lot of program into a well organized and functional structure. Large covered outdoor areas and overhangs provide shading and protected porches and outdoor seating for civic events, extend the usefulness of the building. The circulation area is enlarged to provide an art gallery. Natural light floods the building and operable windows provide excellent ventilation. The design takes advantage of views of the lake and Cascade Mountains and a large operable window in the multipurpose room extends the space. The gym is awash with natural light and windows at the staircase and lobby provide transparency to activities within the building. The glass covered entry is and solid large scale brick masonry create and inviting entry to the community center. Attention to detail, from the library, artful railings, and entry canopy, provides a richness that will be appreciated by the community for many years.

South Park Library
Firm: Johnston Architects pllc
Agency: Seattle Public Library

Photo Credit: Will Lance Photography

Jury Comments: One of the most difficult challenges is to provide architecturally pleasing design and meet program requirements in a small building. The community of South Park in South Seattle has a gem worth waiting for. The 5,000 square foot South Park Library design combines the use of cedar siding, stucco, and vibrant colors to acknowledge the Native American heritage of the Duwamish area and embrace the new cultural of Latin American Architecture a place where people feel welcome. Simple forms surrounding an inner courtyard provide the expression for the library. The simple forms are set slightly askew from the building enclosure maintaining both visual interest and accent their functions – study room, children’s area and reading lounge. Inverted trusses provide a column free interior. The ceiling veneer plywood extends to the exterior of the building directing the eye upward and through upper windows giving the space much larger feel. Attention to detail is evident in the carved wood dowels as canopies which is repeated in the small reading rooms. This attention to detail extends to the exterior of the building in the courtyard with the abstraction of the Duwamish River and cube wood seating emblematic of forests of alder trees, shapes and forms inviting children’s interest. This facility provides a strong connection with the community and creates a great deal of community interest – best expressed by the architect “a beacon to the passers-by.”

Central Washington University - Wenatchee Higher Ed. Center
Firm: INTEGRUS Architecture, P.S. Agency: Central Washington University

Photo Credit: Peter Hassel Photography

Jury Comments: This is another small building with challenges, a complicated academic and political situation. How do you establish a unique presence for Central Washington University on a two-year college campus, with a tight budget and a classroom and office facility of 6,400 square feet? The Wenatchee Higher Education Center both blends with and enhances the architecture on the campus. Three simple structures are combined in a way to provide a grand entry, with ample natural light. The exterior materials brick, metal, and glass provide durability. The wood atrium roof constructed with glu-laminated beams and generous overhangs provide both shading and cover for the entry. Shaped by program needs the building is simple yet monumental that will be used effectively by the two organizations enhanced by the unifying influence of excellent architecture.

Kitsap County Administration Building
Firm: The Miller/Hull Partnership
Agency: Kitsap County

Photo Credit: Nic Lehoux

Jury Comments: In its role as a center of local government this large, comples building appears both accommodating and resolute. It succeeds in this by taking advantage of is steeply sloped site to welcome the public to a low, spreading front entrance that immediately opens into a dramatic public stair flanked by terraced offices. The material palate is an assertive but warm, combination of concrete and sandstone opened to the expansive views with judicious expanses of steel and glass. The building makes effective use of daylighting strategies, thermal mass, natural ventilation, vegetated roofs and bioswales for runoff, providing not only significant reduction in energy costs but clear and attractive demonstration of effective ecological building strategies. The jury appreciated the careful balance of scale, the graceful and dramatic accommodation of a difficult site, and the effective use of sustainable design strategies.

High Point
Firm: Mithun
Agency: Seattle Housing Authority

Jury Comments: This very large residential planning and design project on 120 acres replaces 716 substandard low-income housing units with a sensible and attractive neighborhood for more than 4000 people of varying incomes. Every detail of the project is thoroughly considered – the careful control of stormwater run-off and its containment, the preservation of existing trees, the provision of public gardens and recreation spaces, the judicious control of traffic and parking, excellent access to transit, and the texture of housing – to make a neighborhood that feels friendly and comfortable. The project is a superb example of planning supported by federal Hope VI dollars aimed at improving neighborhoods for low income families all over the country. Not only does High Point exemplify the role that design can play in strengthening communities that have suffered from neglect and social tensions over the decades, but it also shows how all neighborhoods can conserve energy and steward resources while improving the livability of our cities.

Northgate Library, Community Center and Civic Park
Firm: The Miller/Hull Partnership
Agency: Seattle Public Libraries, Seattle Parks and Recreation

Photo Credit: Nic Lehoux

Jury Comments: This cluster of civic buildings provides an excellent example of how good design can help bring together a range of community functions and agencies to create a center for community interaction. The project includes a 10,000 square foot library and a 20,000 square foot community center joined by a generous outdoor play area. The buildings strengthen an active commercial thoroughfare, frame a public green and open space for all members of the community to enjoy a respite. The carefully controlled palate of building materials and the ample covered outdoor space bring the buildings together as a cohesive and welcoming whole. Although the library faces a busy retail street, the presence of vegetation provides a sense of repose to the interior spaces. The ample green and bordering gardens opens a space to breath in the neighborhood. While the library overlooks the large public green the community center opens into a more secluded grove of maples protected by the buildings.

Honor Award