2022 Excellence in Design Awards Winners
Good Design is Good Business Award
To be considered for this award, the project shall utilize Good Design to achieve strategic business objectives. This award is intended to recognize projects in which design excellence elevated the resulting benefit of a project to the business, institution, or community, which it serves. We are proud to award the 2020 Good Design is Good Business Award to:
Bainbridge Elementary School
Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates Architects
Jury Comments, also awarded a Merit Award
A school that puts students at the center of it for a community that puts children at the center of it. The building maintains the character of the original design, but adds the latest theories of modern elementary education. Circulation into the building from the street has been made safe and accessible. Collaborative classrooms build upon each other while creating a connection to the outdoors. Great design creates engaged students. This is an example of A+ architecture.
Member’s Choice Award
Eachfirm may submit one project to the Member’s Choice Award Competition. Member’s from the chapter have the opportunity to vote for any project outside of their firm. Eight projects were submitted to the member’s choice award this year. We are proud to award this year’s Member’s Choice Award to:
Best Engine Works
Tippetts/Weaver Architects
Jury Comments, also awarded a Honor Award
Cities can easily fit places to live and play, but finding places to work can be a challenge for an older city without building an office park. Renovating historic buildings can provide large and unique spaces for businesses that want to invest in their community. This design not only renovates, but improves the existing. Adding a second floor extended the square footage while making efficient use of the volume. It’s easy to imagine this renovation rejuvenating the surrounding blocks of the city.
Honor Awards
Corn Barn
Tippetts/Weaver Architects | Honor Award
Jury Comments – It is clear from the character and subject matter of most of the submissions that architecture in central PA holds a reverence toward history; not solely the date a building was constructed but the impact the building has made on the community. While this project is not serving the larger community, it brings familial generations together on one site while celebrating the building’s historic siting and construction. Honor is awarded to the Corn Barn for the architect’s delicate respect for proportions, form, and materials. Historic and modern are blended and complimentary in a manner that both allows you to see the delineation and blurs the mind to assume everything is as it always was…well rested in a verdant field in Lancaster County.
Fulton Theater
Tippetts/Weaver Architects | Honor Award
Jury Comments – From the use of steel and other design elements it’s evident that the architect/design team took great care to honor and observe the relevance and much of the history of the surrounding buildings adjacent to the infill of the project. It is obvious that accessibility must have been a challenge to achieve because of the varied floor elevations and multitude of sloped site conditions, yet the spaces don’t relay the issues faced by the designers as they appear to have a natural well thought out flow. Honor is awarded to the Fulton Theater project for the architect’s design and use of materials as well as the evident respect for a natural historic landmark.
Merit Awards
Holderness School Davis Center
Warehaus| Merit Award
Jury Comments – While likely not critical to the building program, the reconfiguration of the campus loop road and relocation of parking to flatter portions of the project site prove to be of equal importance to the success of this project as is the building itself. Simultaneously lining the loop road and allowing enough space for an open quad, Davis Center acknowledges existing building orientation and gracefully genuflects to the hillside leveraging views from within the building and preserving views from within the quad. Column supported gable forms bookend the Davis Center setting a material logic, rhythm, and proportion. The interior of the Winter Garden balances and expresses the structural form with an internal canopy of trusses echoing the canopy of the expansive wooded views. Merit is awarded to the Davis Center for its invitation of the natural to be the background for learning on the Holderness campus.
Spring Creek Elementary School
Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates Architects | Merit Award
Jury Comments – The scale of Spring Creek Elementary is hidden behind a balance of volumetric modules interrupted with cantilevered roof planes sliding past the modules. An unassuming site wall quietly brings you into the main entrance of Spring Creek Elementary bringing with it topography and building facade; the entrance lobby is flanked with exterior materials that have wrapped into the building giving the sense of an internal covered yard. Along with the volumetric modules, glazed lanterns spring above the roof line defining programmatic grade modules and flooding corridors with natural light; exterior materials are again invited into the interior. Merit is awarded to Spring Creek Elementary for the architect’s efforts in playfulling inviting the outdoor world in and allowing the users to decide if they are indoors or out.
West Shore Theater
Chris Dawson Architect| Merit Award
Jury Comments – Community theaters have always played an important role in the identity of a town. Historically they were solely for movies, but today represent the vibrancy that pulses at the heart of main street. It is clear from the design that the architect not only understood the task at hand, but was able to create an experience that will make the residents proud. The open transition between the modern lobby and the classic red curtain theater has remained as the link between the physical space and a historical time. A variety of seating typologies invites the audience to come back and try each one. Extended towards the seating, the stage brings the action to the captivated viewer. This design maintains the character of the original with thoughtful modern design, which is a performance all of itself.
Citation Awards
Coral Street Elementary School
Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates Architects| Citation Award
Jury Comments -This is a project designed with the pedestrian in mind. From the reorganization of the site, to the flow throughout the building. It’s very clear how to approach the building, how to enter the building, and how to find your classroom. The color pallet is playful yet not too loud. Exploring the building you’ll find a circle motif that pulls the spaces together. Centered around a Learning Stair, the students can assemble and see their friends. We think this building did an excellent job of reaching the goals it set out to achieve.
Facade Facelife
Murray Associates Architects| Citation Award
Jury Comments – It’s hard to tell if this building is brand new or a renovation. The pictures are the only way you’d know. The use of modular panels and storefront in the facade creates a composition that would be very attractive to potential tenants. The use of solar glass and sun shades allows for maximum daylight into the building. This allows for the view from the inside to be as good as the view from the outside. So hurry up, as this building is going to lease up quickly!
Lanham Hall – Renovation/Addition
Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects| Citation Award
Jury Comments – Renovations that are attractive and sustainable are not easy to pull off. Wrapping the existing building, the new spaces are full of light, creating an enjoyable space to learn and hang out between classes. The new auditorium acts like a diamond in a ring, standing out among the campus. The oval shape is visually appealing while it focuses the audience towards the stage. Lantham Hall has been transformed into a building that the students can be proud of.
Skate Park
Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects| Citation Award
Jury Comments – The first thing that stands out to the jurors is the seemingly random placement of the graffiti/art – at first glance it seems to be random but has a nice sense of flow and an almost living aspect to it, unifying the skaters with the landscape in a natural urban statement. The incorporation of the geometric elements of the skateboard park is well thought out, especially in the placement of the tube. The repurposing of the ‘full pipe oil drum’ works well to add to the flow of the park and is appreciated by the jurors.
Wildcat Activity Center
Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates Architects| Citation Award
Jury Comments – A unique solution for a unique problem. Adding a separate activity center for the growing school was a smart way to create more gym space. What was attractive about this design was that this program type could have put function completely over form. The architect was allowed to create an attractive building that will be exciting for after school activities. Inverted trusses invite the structure into the space while allowing a clerestory window to bring in extra light. This activity center is a huge moral boost to the home team.
260 Boas Street Residential
Chris Dawson Architect| Citation Award
Jury Comments – This renovation is a creative way to bring in a new congregation of residents to a beautiful old church. The verticality of the naive and the stained glass windows are captured by the mezzanine bedrooms. The exterior of the building is perfectly maintained and leaves its distinctive character for the neighborhood to enjoy. This project will serve as a model for this type of occupancy.
Zeroday Brewing Company New Taproom
Chris Dawson Architect| Citation Award
Jury Comments – At first glance, it is hard to rationalize the remotely central location of the brewing equipment but, as a taproom specializing in low-volume runs, the layout is anything but remote. Put on display, and supported by glass-mounted infographics, the hot liquor tank, mash tun, and boil kettles showcase the brewing process at the core of Zeroday Brewing’s Taproom. With the sweet smell of experimental batches setting the background, the rest is left to the architectural response. Simplified, and almost literally, this project is a bar from the street to the alley. Glazed openings on either end of the Tasting Room allow natural light to highlight the historic mass masonry construction. Borrowed alley access at the rear of the property is brightened with a two-story mural. That all of this is pulled off for under $145/SF is no small feat and worthy of praise. Citation is awarded to Zeroday Brewing’s Taproom for elegantly inserting a modern aesthetic into the backdrop of a historic live-above…AND THEY HAVE A STOUT!!! We’ll be dreaming of you Milky Twilight.
Cancer Assistance and Resource Education (CARE) Center
Chris Dawson Architect| Citation Award
Jury Comments – In small projects every design decision has to be a good one. The well lit and gentleness of the materials creates a comfortable space for families to process the painful news. The wood slats draw your eye into the space making the user want to follow. Warm tones act like a warm embrace between the hugs of a family member. It’s easy to imagine the whole hospital wanting to get renovated after this design.