2022 WMAIA Design Awards Entries

WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
HONOR AWARD

truthbox Architects, Providence, RI

1492 Westminster Street is the first multifamily building in Rhode Island built to the exacting passive house standards administered by the Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) (certification pending at time of award submission).

Located on a narrow lot on Providence’s west side that sat vacant for many years, the building combines a ground floor commercial space, ground floor accessible residential unit, and six one-bedroom dwelling units.

Through a combination of a super-insulated envelope, airtight construction, highperformance windows, efficient systems, and smart design the building achieves an expected energy use intensity (EUI) of only 16.7 kBTU/ft2yr. This represents a nearly 75% reduction in operational energy use relative to the national average for multifamily housing.

This project demonstrates how architecture can directly address the urban housing shortage while also advancing critical climate goals.

Photos by Jason Wessel

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
CITATION AWARD

Jones Whitsett, Greenfield, MA

This private boarding high school athletic facility improvement project includes a new wrestling facility, updates to an existing ice-skating arena, a new restroom pavilion, and a covered outdoor area. The intent was to transform a previously disorganized area into an athletic campus gathering point.

The new pre-engineered wrestling building provides an economically updated space for the growing wrestling program with new restrooms and locker rooms. Large enough to serve other functions, the space is flooded with a natural glare-free light from large storefront windows and north-facing skylights.

The ice arena improvements include new polycarbonate translucent panels for natural diffused light, new perforated sidewall panels for low impact fresh air, and a new insulated membrane roof to maintain consistent temperatures.

The pavilion provides inclusive, gender-neutral restrooms and a covered outdoor space with mountain views. Natural materials like river stone, cedar siding, and native plantings reflect the impressing landscape beyond the school’s boundaries.

Photos by Leigh Chodos

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
HONOR AWARD

Shepley Bullfinch, Boston, MA

Reinvented as a social and cultural incubator, the newly renovated Student Union embraces student entrepreneurship and organizations that transform the building into a refreshed stage for campus life designed for equitable communities and campus well-being. The Union radiates
energy from the geographical heart of campus to become the nexus of student engagement, restoring its historic cultural vibrancy.

Programs are strategically placed to draw students into the Union along new pedestrian pathways. During intensive workshops, student representatives were engaged in defining desired space types, from intimate study spots to casual gathering to formal event venues and a
shared home for all student organizations.

The bold proposal to lift the 8,000-sf Ballroom opens the once dense and circuitous interiors, connecting and layering visual activity from within to the campus outside. The now open interior encourages serendipitous connections and collaboration, providing views to and from campus
and flooding the Union with natural light.

Photos by Raj Das

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
ENTRY

Jones Whitsett Architects, Greenfield, MA

Springfield Preparatory Charter School is a vibrant and growing kindergarten to 8th grade elementary school serving students by choice from across the city of Springfield. After a lengthy search, this academically high performing school purchased and began plans to renovate a one-story office building along Roosevelt Avenue.

With more than 43,500 square feet of existing space, JWA planned a complete reorganization of the interior, systems upgrades, including new insulation at walls and roof along with all new finishes.

To separate the school from the busy traffic of Roosevelt Avenue the new design switches the entrance to the east side of the building where a 6,000 sf gym addition, landscaping and new play areas create a welcoming campus setting.

Thoughtfully and efficiently designed at a construction cost of less than $230 per square foot, the new Springfield Prep Charter School is a needed addition to the educational landscape of Springfield.

Photos by Julie Bidwell

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
MERIT AWARD &
ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE AWARD

Thomas Douglas Architects, Northampton, MA

The River Valley Co-op is a consumer-owned food market that celebrates and strengthens the connection between consumers and the rich network of local and organic producers in the Pioneer Valley.

With thoughtful material selections, drought tolerant landscaping, wetland preservation, net-zero electricity, and state-of-the-art refrigeration and HVAC systems, this new construction project aspires to advance the modern grocery store as a community resource and beacon of a more sustainable future.

Photos by Leigh Chodos

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
ENTRY

Stephen Gerard Dietemann Architect, Great Barrington, MA

The Perlman Residence was designed by Stephen Gerard Dietemann, Architect and constructed by Town & Country Builder. This new 3 bedroom, single story residence of approximately 2350 square feet is located on the banks of Lake Garfield.

Given the importance of jazz in the life of the clients, and the beauty of the adjacent lake, every effort was made to design and build a home for the clients that responded to both with a design that juxtaposed both structure and function with the improvisational essence of jazz. The large, playfully shaped deck running the length of the house along the lake – with virtually every room in the house abutting this deck — emphasizes the constant presence of the water and the sky.

The client’s emphasis on a functional ‘playfulness’ in the design was accomplished by the development of four ‘pavilions’, all overlapping one another architecturally, but focused on a specific programmatic requirement: a living/dining/kitchen pavilion; a master bedroom suite pavilion; a guest/music pavilion; and a work pavilion.

Photos by Peter Pierce

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
MERIT AWARD

C&H Architects, Amherst, MA

This high-performance homestead, nestled between farmland and a dense neighborhood, is an example of the growing movement to bridge the gap between residential and agricultural landscapes. The built spaces are carefully sited as a continuation of a residential street providing access to protected open space.

In lieu of a traditional private backyard, the property receives a steady flow of bikers, walkers,birders, skiers, and even livestock, whilst maintaining privacy for the home. Trails and public access are laid out to create a rural homage to Jane Jacobs we call “eyes on the fields.”

Flexible and healthful, this home draws on the vernacular of the past with concern and readiness for the future. A super-insulated envelope uses a low-carbon profile to deliver a resilient space served by all electric / net-zero energy systems. This project embodies our firm’s goal of design for the next hundred years.

Photos by Ethan Drinker

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
HONOR AWARD

Naomi Darling Architecture, South Hadley, MA

The Maier Camerlenghi Addition is a second story addition and renovation of a mid-century home in the center of Amherst, MA for an academic couple with need for a home office as well additional bedrooms for their growing family.

Respecting the original design, the addition inserts a vertical two-story library volume and light scoop along the existing chimney. Added circulation within the light scoop connects the library space to the new children’s bedrooms and bathroom.

Additional renovations address sustainability including insulating the roof for improved energy performance, updating windows, adding an EV power station, and bringing daylight into the main living room by redesigning the previously solid wood cap that with vertical louvers to allow light to flood through the high clerestory windows.

These changes allow the classic mid-century home to grow into the 21st century.

Photos by Sean Kernan

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
ENTRY

UMass Design / Build, Amherst, MA

The Hygge House is an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) designed and built by an interdisciplinary student team in collaboration with a local construction firm. The ADU is designed to be adaptable and expandable over time, is net-zero ready, and prioritizes low-carbon, high-performance assemblies throughout.

The house was designed for and is being donated to the OneHolyoke CDC and will serve as affordable housing in an underserved neighborhood in Holyoke, MA.

Prior to this, the Hygge House was temporarily moved to the Green River Festival where it served as a side stage as well as an educational tool to teach festival attendees about ADUs, low-carbon construction, and net-zero buildings.

Photos by Carl Fiocchi

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
ENTRY

Rob Marcalow, AIA, Boston, MA

Hill House is a new, multi-generational chapter for a large family home in rural Gill, Massachusetts. The construction of a new kitchen space and installation of a door and window converted the house to two independent units with separate entries, leaving the parent apartment intact and on one floor. The design reflects the transitional period from parent-as-caregiver to child-as-caregiver through an architectural reinterpretation of internal and external spaces.

The original house, expanded in 1994 to house children, contracts again to form a new “exterior” at the original entry facade, as a child assumes ownership and care. The kitchens face each other, each sharing an impression of each other through frosted glazing. The original front door is reused, separating the two units. A barn and a woodshed meet additional family needs.

This new return to an old way of living is a prototype for reimagining new possibilities for large existing homes.

Photos by Rob Marcalow AIA

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
ENTRY

Thomas Douglas Architects, Northampton, MA

The transformation of Gawith Hall, the largest building of the historic Clarke School for the Deaf, from dormitories into a modern office space required creative design processes and solutions to bridge the client’s needs with requirements to earn historic preservation credits. This adaptive reuse project breathes new life into an elegant 19th century masonry building that had fallen into vacancy and disrepair.

Thermal and structural performance was enhanced in the existing structure while preserving and refurbishing historic details and finishes. A new addition brings light, openness and modern materials to the interiors, while complementing the architectural fabric and details of the historic campus, to create an extraordinary modern office in the heart of one of Northampton’s most desirable residential neighborhoods.

Photos by Leigh Chodos

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
ENTRY

Jones Whitsett Architects, Greenfield, MA

This private high school renovation transformed a historically rich but outdated gym into a community-oriented fitness center. By re-purposing an existing building, this project was resource-efficient and economical. The 7,500 square-foot renovation includes a double-height gym, a student lounge, restrooms and a lobby. The design celebrates the historic character of the space, highlighting architectural features like exposed metal ceiling trusses, vaulted wood paneling, and 14-foot Palladian windows all while providing new systems and equipment to support a 21st century fitness experience. The intention was to create an inviting, unintimidating and equitable social hub for the school community.

Fresh material finishes and all new LED lighting give the space a contemporary, cheerful feel while remaining respectful of the historic character. Acoustic consideration and reinforced flooring were included in the design. The full HVAC system update, supplemented with large overhead fans was a critical feature at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photos by Leigh Chodos

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WMAIA 2022 Design Awards
ENTRY

Dietz & Company Architects, Inc., Springfield, MA

Dietz & Company Architects designed the renovation of the historic 48,000-square-foot Chicopee City Hall including programming, rehabilitation of the exterior envelope and long-closed Auditorium, and accessibility upgrades. Guiding the design was balancing historic preservation with contemporary and changing needs. The Auditorium is transformed into a flexible and accessible multipurpose space with new state-of-the-art technology and lighting systems for meetings and civic events, while retaining its original character. One of the major features of this project is the restoration of the iconic rose window and stained-glass that illuminate the Auditorium in a vibrant play of color and light.

The exterior rehabilitation respects the historic architectural significance of the building and includes restoration of the campanile, stained-glass, slate roofing, and masonry. New thermally improved windows that replicate the originals, along with efficient mechanical systems, acoustic improvements, code, and accessibility upgrades enhance the day-to-day experience of the building for the community.

Photos by Leigh Chodos

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