2024 WMAIA Design Awards

WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
AWARDS ENTRY

Shepley Bulfinch, Boston, MA

Community Mental Health Affiliates (CMHA), a nonprofit mental healthcare services provider, has offered 24/7 residential care to some of Connecticut’s most vulnerable adults for two decades. In need of a new facility that could better support the community, CMHA sought to transform the 28,000-SF former Andrew House convalescence home into a home for two residential programs serving 35 individuals with chronic mental and medical health issues.

The new facility stands as a testament to the transformative power of architecture. While the existing nursing home layout provided a solid foundation for apartment-style living, outdated infrastructure presented significant architectural challenges. The design team provided a partial interior renovation, a brand-new MEP system, a new roof, and a relocated commercial kitchen that engages a large, new, multi-purpose gathering room. Sensitive to the residents’ well-being, the design team prioritized considerate alterations that foster a sense of comfort and belonging.

Photos by Raj Das

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
AWARDS ENTRY

Kuhn Riddle Architects & Designers, Amherst, MA

The existing library, built circa 1893, is a jewel box of a building in the Queen Anne style, located in the heart of North Amherst. Our team was tasked with thoughtfully increasing the accessibility and functionality of the building while preserving the history and character of the existing library.

Photos by Stefano Secchia

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
AWARDS ENTRY

Pamela Sandler, Architect, Stockbridge, MA

The Sandler AIA team completed a modern, new construction in the Berkshires. It’s an incredible lakeside residence in Stockbridge, MA that serves as a vacation and gathering point for a multi-generational family.

Prior to hiring Sandler AIA to design and build the house, the core family– the clients and their three adult children– had been visiting Stockbridge Bowl for nearly 40 years, spending time together in two very small cottages on the property. As with many families, they became multi-generational and the clients’ children had children of their own. The family outgrew the tiny cottages and could no longer all gather in the Berkshires at the same time for multiple visits and long holiday stays

Photos by John Gruen

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
AWARDS ENTRY

Kuth Ranieri Architects, Franklin, MA

This renovation of a gift shop created a new home for the Franklin Food Pantry, expanding the organization’s capacity to provide vital nutritional resources and services.

Within a limited budget, the designers reconfigured the footprint to include a market, offices, a community room (with separate entry, kitchenette, and restroom for events), and back-of-house cold/dry storage. A double-height space connects the main level and mezzanine. The fully accessible renovation includes all-gender restrooms, a platform lift, accessible parking, and renovated walkways.

The administrative suite includes meeting spaces for private and group gatherings. A wood-clad freezer addition includes a loading dock. Brand colors accent natural wood, concrete, and metals. A rolling shelving system maximizes warehouse storage efficiency, while a dumbwaiter simplifies stocking. The exterior received fresh paint, new fenestration, skylights, and a new roof that hosts a solar array.

Edible landscaping promotes food independence awareness. Select design services were provided pro bono.

Photos by Greg Shuppe (Shuppe Studios)

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
AWARDS ENTRY

Kuhn Riddle Architects & Designers, Amherst, MA

Historic Gaylord Mansion sits at the gateway of the Elms College campus in Chicopee, Massachusetts.

The Living-Learning Community and Cultural Center now houses students on the upper floors and classroom/study spaces on the first floor.

Much effort was taken to maintain the historic character while modernizing building systems.

Photos by Jim Gipe

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE

Burr and McCallum Architects, Williamstown, MA

This is a single family house in the Berkshires for a couple in their fifties, both able to work from home, so good office space was important to the project.

They also needed plenty of wall space for their impressive and quirky art collection and were very happy to give up large expanses of glass to accommodate this. No children. One guest room. More circulation space than in most of houses, again to provide more wall space for their ever-expanding art collection.

The house has solar panels to provide power to all the systems of the house, which are all electric, and is net zero.

Photos by Anne McCallum FAIA

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE

Kuhn Riddle Architects + Designers, Amherst, MA

Red Gate Farm Education Center’s mission is to grow children who are hard-working, confident, and kind.

Core values of inclusivity, equitability, sustainability, well-being, and connection to nature inform the architecture.

Collaborating with local artisans and using native, natural materials created a design language that aligned with Red Gate Farm’s commitment to sustainability.

Photos by Jim Gipe

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
HONOR AWARD

Bonham & Douglas Architects, Northampton, MA

The new building for the Northampton Community Arts Trust unifies five local art organizations under one roof, encouraging collaboration and a shared sense of purpose. This innovative building offers classrooms, rehearsal studios and gallery areas, complemented by two expansive performance venues.

With the integration of indoor and outdoor performance and gathering areas, this former lumber yard has been reimagined as a welcoming environment for artists and performers of all ages, fostering creativity and connection across generations. The design features a grand, three-story communal lobby that is the heart of the building, linking the seven main spaces and creating a sense of unity and flow.

By combining elements including an airtight envelope of insulated metal panels, a large rooftop solar array, and energy recovery systems, this highly efficient building is a model of sustainable renovation.

Photos by Leigh Chodos

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
HONOR AWARD

Dodson & Flinker, Florence, MA

The Raymond E. Shaw Elementary School serves 550 students in central Massachusetts. The new, certified LEED Gold school building and landscape replaces an aging, mid-20th century school building.

The building and landscape design are inspired by the threads of natural and cultural history, visible and invisible, that give meaning to the site: from agricultural patterns still visible in stone walls, to native plant wetland and forest communities, to mill power and products.

The school landscape is designed to provide outdoor learning and play beyond recess, with outdoor classroom spaces and interpretive features that include a meadow walk, a constructed wetland, sloped playground with embankment slides and interconnected nets, a forest classroom and trail, and a stormwater runnel wall and waterwheel driven by roof runoff.

Photos by Ed Wonsek Artworks

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
MERIT AWARD

Naomi Darling Architecture, South Hadley, MA

The Mandel Sculpture studio is a simple gable roof structure with vertical accent battens that reference the vernacular tobacco barns. The site is located on the north slope and tucked up against an existing tree line to allow for a broad expansive view of the field to the north. The design solution extends the gable roof over an outdoor workspace with a lattice screen within the gable for light, air and openness/enclosure.

Within the studio, the space is divided into a primary workshop, a documentation and exhibition space that can be closed off for total light control, and a storage space. While large windows to the north allow for ample, even daylight, a smaller awning window on the south side allows for a view to the trees and cross ventilation. Large custom doors open into the studio for large materials and to extend the studio to the covered patio space.

Photos by Sean Kernan

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
MERIT AWARD

Jones Whitsett Architects, Inc., Greenfield, MA

Gardner, Massachusetts, sought to consolidate two aging schools from 1926 and 1951 into a single Pre-K through 4^th grade facility suitable to meet the district’s educational needs. The preferred site, a wooded area separated by wetlands from the Middle and High School, inspired the design team to create a nature-themed “School in The Woods.”

The school features three wings: a southern Pre-K and Kindergarten wing with dual entries for drop-off and parent access; a central wing housing community spaces like the cafetorium, gymnasium, and library, along with fourth grade; and a northern wing for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd “neighborhoods”.

Classrooms are filled with natural light and views of the treetops and feature exposed structural systems to enhance ceiling height. They are clustered with shared break-out spaces and wide hallways. The design prioritizes circulation with bright, airy stair-towers offering stunning views of the New England landscape, rather than traditional enclosed stairwells.

Photos by Leigh Chodos

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CITATION AWARD

Kuth Ranieri Architects, Franklin, MA

This new, municipal swimming pool and bathhouse replace aging facilities at a public park deep in the hills of Buckland, MA. The new facility includes aquatic opportunities for all ages. Designed on a tight budget, facilities are kept to a functional minimum, orienting the project toward the pool and relocating programs like showers and changing rooms to outside the shell.

The long, slab-on grade building frames views toward the fully accessible pool, which includes a shallow zone for non-swimmers and a deeper end that orients toward views of an abutting stream. The building includes a reception/first aid, restrooms, storage, and pool mechanical room. A palette of natural building materials, including local black locust siding, and off-the-shelf components defines the building’s modest character. Sustainability features include extended eaves, a photovoltaic array, native plantings, and durable materials. The $2.1M project was funded through state grants, town funding, and a substantial fundraising effort.

Photos by Ben Gancsos Studio

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
CITATION AWARD

Dodson & Flinker, Florence, MA

Mt. Tom North Trailhead Park is a new public park in Easthampton, MA, created on a formerly residential property on Mt. Tom’s northern slope. The client, the City of Easthampton, collaborated with a large group of partners and stakeholders that were critical to the success of the project, including the Kestrel Land Trust, Pascommuck Conservation Trust, PARC/Conservation Partnership Grant Programs, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

The project transforms a disturbed former house-lot into an expansive habitat area, while also addressing limited access to the trail network of Mt. Tom from Easthampton side. A facilitated public process informed the design. The park includes a parking area, a 2,000 ft length, FSTAG accessible trail, planted pollinator-friendly meadow and shrubland areas, an overlook and rest areas with benches and picnic tables, educational and directional signage, and trailhead connections to adjacent trail systems on Mt Tom and Kestrel Land Trust’s “Little Mountain”.

Photos by Dodson & Flinker

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
CITATION AWARD

Bonham & Douglas Architects, Northampton, MA

For over 130 years, the 800-seat Academy of Music Theatre has been a cornerstone of cultural life in the community and has visually heralded your arrival to the heart of downtown Northampton.

Outside, our design introduces a marquee canopy that harmoniously integrates with the existing building facade, creating a covered outdoor gathering space and establishing a prominent entrance. Inside, decorative paint and plaster were beautifully reinvigorated and seating and pathways were reconfigured for increased accessibility. A sense of grandeur was reinstated with the installation of a new two-tier chandelier, which had been missing above the main seating area for over six decades.

The revitalization of this historic venue provides a safer, more comfortable, and more resilient building to ensure this dynamic community resource will continue to thrive for generations to come.

Photos by Leigh Chodos

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WMAIA 2024 Design Awards
CITATION AWARD

Ko-LAB Architecture, South Hadley, MA

The Sunderland Riverside Park Kayak Kiosk and Restroom Renovation were initiated to provide library patrons with the ability to check out kayaks and enjoy access to the Connecticut River. Over time, the project evolved to include not only a place for the kayaks, but a storage area to replace the existing shed for the park maintenance equipment, storage for Sunderland Youth Baseball, and a renovation of the existing restroom facilities.

The project combined the kayak storage program into a pavilion with a maintenance and storage shed at the rear and a roof canopy providing a shaded area for people to picnic or watch the baseball games. The three kayak storage boxes double as seating and picnic tables between the boxes provide a place for community gathering.Both projects were a community effort funded by the Town of Sunderland with CPA (Community Preservation Act)and ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds.

Photos by Sean Kernan

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