News Room
Who in O.C. designs the coolest buildings?
December 9th 2011
Orange County Register
The recent American Institute of Architects Orange County Chapter awards honored the best commercial property design work done by Orange County architects in the past year.
Winning projects ran in scope from schools to medical facilities to courthouses that are located in – or planned to be built in – everywhere from Orange County to Texas to the Middle East.
AIAOC gave its highest honor, The 25-year Award, to Orange County’s Board of Supervisors for the commitment of the county and its OC Parks to open space parkland.
[ SLIDE SHOW: Images of AIAOC award-winning designs; judges' comments, too! ]
Among other AIAOC honors:
- Honor Award: South Lake Tahoe High School Career Technical Education and Classroom Buildings, LPA, Inc.; Frontier Project, HMC Architects; Long Beach Court Building, Perkins+Will; Palomar College Multi-Disciplinary Building, LPA, Inc.
- Merit Award: Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego, gkkworks; King Saud Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah Campus; Saudi Arabia, Perkins+Will; Santiago Canyon College Science Building, LPA, Inc.
- Citation Award: Middle School Enclave at Costa Mesa High School, HMC Architects; Fort Worth Polytechnic Heights Neighborhood Police Center, Perkins+Will; California State University East Bay Recreation & Wellness Center, LPA, Inc.; Irvine Valley College Life Sciences Building, Dougherty+Dougherty Architects.
- Cote Award: Frontier Project, HMC Architects; CSU East Bay Recreation & Wellness Center, LPA, Inc.
- Savings By Design Award: Frontier Project, HMC Architects; Santiago Canyon College Science Building, LPA, Inc.
Dan Heinfeld, president of LPA from Irvine and a fellow with the American Institute of Architects, notes that AIAOC has been recognizing local design since 1967: “The AIA awards are unique in that they are typically given by a jury of peers and winning projects represent the best work being done by architects in our chapter. Discussion regarding design and the value of design to our community, and clients, is healthy for our region. This year is no different and considering economic conditions, even more important that we support and celebrate good design — because it matters.”
