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from the editor

  • the dangers of digital cameras

    When karaoke machines came out, suddenly everyone thought he was Frank Sinatra. Now digital cameras are clicking up a storm, and everyone thinks he's Ansel Adams.

     

practice

residential architect design awards

introduction

  • residential architect design awards 2003

    From more than 575 entries, judges of the fourth annual residential architect Design Awards chose 27 winners. Robert Gurney wins top prize for his blue ridge farmhouse addition.

     

project of the year

  • blue ridge farmhouse addition, washington, va.

    When Bob Gurney's clients asked him to design an addition to their 1799 farmhouse in the rolling hills of Washington, Va., his first instinct was to imagine a Modern glass pavilion. "It seemed more respectful than a seamless composition," he says. "I wanted there to be no doubt about what was old...

     

custom / more than 3,500 square feet

  • georgian bay retreat, cedar ridge, ontario, canada

    The uncomplicated form and plan of this bay-front home in Ontario won the judges' admiration. The home's layout is organized along a circulation spine that parallels the austere, cedar-covered front facade.

     

  • private residence, napa, calif.

    When faced with a site as lovely as this Northern California knoll, most architects wouldn't be able to resist designing a house that's just as dramatic. But Turnbull Griffin Haesloop restrained itself, and the result is a house whose intimate relationship to the land won over the judges.

     

  • pacitti house, warwick, r.i.

    When asked for ideas that would drive the design of their house, these clients came up with a fitting metaphor: a Saab. The house, they said, should be like the car: clean of line, well-crafted, and a little quirky in form.

     

custom / 2,000 to 3,500 square feet

  • gosline residence, seattle

    Bohlin Cywinski Jackson has built a national reputation for its expert handling of natural materials like wood and stone. But the firm is equally skilled at working with industrial elements.

     

  • estes house, jamestown, r.i.

    A greenhouse formerly on the site inspired the layout for architect Jim Estes' house, and its materials draw from utilitarian New England structures. When the greenhouse was abandoned in the 1950s, the site went completely wild.

     

  • van sweden residence, sherwood, md.

    When Suman Sorg began designing a country retreat for a noted landscape architect, she focused on garden walls: "They're full of mystery, since you can't see what's behind them, and over time they turn into living, vertical gardens themselves."

     

custom / less than 2,000 square feet

  • tower house, chicago

    When Architect Rick Phillips purchased the tiny triangular lot in 1996, on the fringe of Cabrini Green, land prices were so low that he bought the adjacent lot, too. Phillips designed the Tower House for fun, knowing that someday he'd build a more serious house next door.

     

  • private residence, st. helena, calif.

    Turnbull Griffin Haesloop's clients for this Napa Valley cottage wanted a single-story house. But their site, an idyllic hillside, lent itself to a two-story plan. Architects solved this problem by terracing the hillside with two stone retaining walls, creating a plateau.

     

renovation

  • pool house at little falls, mclean, va.

    The pool pavilion reduces the architecture of the house to its minimal essence," says architect Randy Mars of this late addition to a house he also designed. The jury agreed, calling the pavilion "a little gem" and "just a great space to be in."

     

  • rappahannock bend, king george, va.

    The stunning guest wing that Mark McInturff, FAIA, added to a 1930s home in rural Virginia incorporates a raft of traditional elements from the American South. He chose white-painted brick for the walls "because it's a material I love and is appropriately Southern."

     

  • martin shocket residence, chevy chase, md.

    If there were ever a project that was a no-brainer, this was it," laughs Mark McInturff, FAIA, describing his renovation of a 32-square-foot photographic studio behind a house in suburban Maryland. The original studio was fitted with tiny windows that looked onto a wide lot.

     

multifamily

  • loyola village, san francisco

    Seidel/Holzman's orders for this project were simple: Provide affordable units for University of San Francisco faculty, students, and staff. But the location posed a more complex challenge: "The site was virtually sand," says Alexander Seidel.

     

  • box & one lofts, portland, ore.

    This is urban living," said the jury, who were impressed by the project's strong indoor-outdoor connections and neighborhood feel.

     

  • radford court, seattle

    This University of Washington student housing complex was designed to encourage community among its population of mostly married graduate students and their families. The jury felt the project achieved that goal, and did it with outstanding regard to the site's steep topography.

     

  • venice beach lofts, venice, calif.

    Light, expansiveness, and self-expression—themes of contemporary California culture—converge in the design for the Venice Beach lofts. With their concrete floors, conspicuous air ducts, and metal bridges, they summon the atmosphere of an old industrial building.

     

  • logan heights development, washington, d.c.

    The architects at diVISION ONE, Inc., couldn't find a developer to build five contemporary town houses in the nation's ultraconservative capital, so they tackled the project themselves, becoming developers, contractors, and designers for the Logan Heights Development.

     

single-family production / attached

  • phillips row, washington, d.c.

    The transformation of a forlorn school building into a sparkling complex of 14 single-family homes earned Suman Sorg, FAIA, high marks from judges. They admired her careful use of 19th-century proportions and the way the new Phillips Row houses fit seamlessly into a historic Georgetown neighborhood.

     

single-family production / detached

Affordable

  • the wellington neighborhood, breckenridge, colo.

    The Wellington Neighborhood stands out not only for its architecture and master plan but also for its reclamation of a truly hardscrabble site. Previously home to a dredge mining operation, the land was severely damaged and pocked by great boulders.

     

  • waterloo heights apartments, los angeles

    Koning Eizenberg Architects faced the usual affordable-housing challenges: making the design look customized when it had to be generic to meet budget; standing up to building officials and contractors who ask why details must be done well; and overcoming the resistance of neighbors.

     

kitchen

  • d.c. residence, washington, d.c.

    Unlike politics, architecture has second acts. This original kitchen was outdated, extremely dark, and cut off from the rest of the house, says Ralph Cunningham, but it's reincarnated as a light-filled space with a felicitous floor-plan flow.

     

bath

  • fiat lux "let the light flow," del mar, calif.

    Because of a local law, 80 percent of the homes in Del Mar, Calif., are built partially underground. The dilemma that created for Jack B. Smyer II was how to deliver natural light to the basement bathroom of this house.

     

architectural detail

  • belvedere lagoon residence, belvedere, calif.

    This sunny little sitting area snuggles up to a handsome stone wall, which demarcates indoor and outdoor and public and private spaces of a renovated waterfront home.

     

  • p + d house, omaha, neb.

    The attention lavished on a fireplace and built-in television cabinet in this suburban remodel impressed the judges. Architect Randy Brown actually tore a hole into the side of the house to line the TV up flush with the wall.

     

judges' award

  • tick hall reconstruction, montauk, n.y.

    When a 1997 fire destroyed a summer residence in Montauk, N.Y., the home's owners weren't the only ones who mourned. The 113-year-old building, known as Tick Hall, was designed by Stanford White and sited by Frederick Law Olmsted, and its loss represented a significant blow to the architectural...

     

  • mckinley bathroom, omaha, neb.

    When a Home Depot opened up in Omaha, Neb., it sparked a subversive idea in local architect Randy Brown's mind. "You can buy a bath there and basically plug it into your house," he says. "We decided to do the opposite."