Awards Archives - a/e ProNet

Back to School: 2017 a/e ProNet Engineering Scholarship Winner

By Lynda

University students around the country are heading back to class. We’d like to recognize one of them today. In May, ACEC announced the winner of the annual a/e ProNet Engineering Scholarship as Emily Valenzuela.

Emily is working toward a master’s degree in civil and water resources engineering from Colorado State University. She is the winner of the first annual a/e ProNet Engineering Scholarship, a $5,000 award.

“Engineering is much more than the roof above our heads, it is the solid foundation of our society.” — Emily Valenzuela

Our organization sponsors two annual scholarships, one with the ACEC and one with the AIA. We are proud to support the next generation of architects and engineers as they pursue their education. You can find details about both awards, including lists of past winners, on the Scholarships page of our website.

Good luck this year, Emily!

ProNet Clients Among 2017 AIA Indiana Award Winners

By Lynda

Markle Branch Library of Huntington – City Township Public Library – krM Architecture+

Once again, we’re proud to see several of our clients on the list of winners at the AIA Indiana Excellence in Architecture Awards.

AXIS Architecture + Interiors

Honor Award – New Building – (Project cost greater than $5 million)

Project Name: Cummins LiveWell Center

Jury Comments:

The jury felt this project achieved a rich and simple elegance in both plan organization and exterior lines. We commend the connectivity between the indoor and outdoor environments, the palliative interiors, and use of calming tones and textures. The architectural team’s design response achieved the goal of challenging the stereotypical doctor’s office and exemplifies a holistic integration of architecture, building systems, function and site design.

Honor Award – Renovation / Addition

Project Name: Jarden Home Brands

Jury Comments:

This project creates a work environment successfully designed to foster collaboration and innovation. The design translates well from the initial concept sketches to the three-dimensional outcome with areas defined by varied use of color, texture, and architectural elements. Open collaborative workspace is balanced with quiet space for focused work. A courtyard and skylights enhance the experience for a seemingly large floor plate, bringing daylight to interior spaces. The client’s products are artfully integrated into the design in light fixtures and an art installation that serves a hallmark of the design.

Merit Award – Interior / Retrofit

Project Name: Business Furniture Corporation Office + Warehouse

Jury Comments:

The jury was particularly impressed with the design team’s expression of scale through forms, layers and textures. Marked attention was given to the importance of ceiling planes to define a space. The project clearly articulates a dynamic and collaborative work environment but also showcases the client’s passion for its product through its integration with the design.

Design Excellence

Project Name: Cummins LiveWell Center

Jury Comments:

The Cummins LiveWell Center garnered the jury’s unanimous support for the Design Excellence award. The beautifully proportioned, elegant building goes beyond ordinary expectations. The building’s transparency offers abundant, but managed views, to the mission within. The low-scale, “E” shaped building introduces daylight and affords occupants with views to the outdoors at every turn. Views to gardens in the courtyards and the landscape beyond support our biophilic connection to nature and embodies evidence-based, restorative concepts that support healing and wellness. Beautifully executed and well done.

arcDESIGN

Merit Award – Historic Restoration

Project Name: Indiana State University – Normal Hall

Jury Comments:

A respectful revival of a building allowed to badly deteriorated over time, and a commitment from the University to the future by restoring this oldest surviving building on-campus. The Jury admired that the design team studied archival photos to reproduce furniture and replace lost materials. The Jury applauds the restoration of the historic stained-glass dome as a centerpiece to celebrate this building. The addition articulates clearly the differentiation of new vs old building with a design reflective of its time, respectful of historic while clearly of a new century, and doesn’t compete but is compatible with original scale and materials. The outcome reflects patience with the process of restoring an old building where unexpected surprises were revealed through careful removal process. Congratulations – well-done!

Continue reading “ProNet Clients Among 2017 AIA Indiana Award Winners”

Winners of 2017 a/e ProNet AIA Scholarships Announced

By Lynda

Each year, we partner with the AIA to present two $5,000 awards to architecture students who demonstrate a particular interest in the principles of management in architecture practice. We’re proud to announce that the following students have won the 2017 David W. Lakamp a/e ProNet Scholarship:

Emmanuel Cofie always had an eye for art and design. This desire led him to obtain a B.S. in Architecture from Florida A&M University (FAMU) in 2007. Subsequently, he landed a full-time position at an architecture firm in Florida. The job exposed him to team collaboration, the risks involved with poor communication, and the means by which stakeholders, with different interests, mitigate issues. Wanting a more technical education, Cofie enrolled in FAMU’s Construction Engineering Technology Program and completed the degree in 2016 with knowledge of how to plan out projects to suit the owner and minimize financial loss. While enrolled, he went on a missionary trip to Peru where he saw the effects of inequality and forced urbanization first-hand. It’s apparent that such education will be needed for a future design professional to solve such complex issues. This experience further strengthened his desire to study architecture at the graduate level. Cofie will start a two-year Master of Architecture (M.Arch) degree at the University of Michigan this fall.

Emily Wirt, NCIDQ, LEED GA, completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Interior Design from the University of Georgia in 2012. She is currently a first-year Master of Architecture candidate at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is an active member of Georgia Tech’s American Institute of Architecture Students and Women in Architecture chapters. Prior to her graduate studies, Wirt worked as a commercial interior designer for four years in Atlanta and Shreveport, LA, primarily in the corporate design and healthcare sectors. Her design work at smaller local firms provided opportunities to manage design projects with sustainability and risk assessment at the forefront. She served as the main point of contact during the contract administration phases of several larger projects, and during this role, she learned the importance of clear communication between contractors, clients, and the design team to ensure a successful and cohesive project. To further her professional standing and commitment to sustainable management, she has also obtained her National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) certification and LEED Green Associate accreditation. In her graduate studies, Wirt strives to further her studies of innovative technologies in sustainable design in regards to risk assessment.

“The scholarship applicants this year demonstrated strengths in diversified areas within the submission requirements that made it challenging to select our winners. The scholarship winners however, stood out among the rest because not only did their essays address the practice management topic in an articulate to-the-point manner, but also the suggested solutions demonstrated clear understanding of best practices such as peer reviews and the value of accountability, where risk is reasonably managed and future potential liabilities mitigated and the value of communication that includes in person interactions. In addition to the essay responses, the jury found the letters of recommendation to be strong while the experiences documented in their resumes indicated a conscious initiative to be educated in the business aspect of architecture while at the same time having strong design firm experience.” You can read the full AIA Press Release here.

This year, the essay prompt revolved around overseas collaboration. Excerpts of the winners’ responses can be found here.

Started in 1990, the scholarship was renamed in 1999 for David W. Lakamp. Mr. Lakamp was a founder of a/e ProNet and a trusted advisor to the profession. He left behind a legacy of professionalism and integrity that set new standards in the field of insurance services. The jury for the 2017 David W. Lakamp a/e ProNet Scholarship includes: Thomas G. Coghlan, A. Lira Luis, AIA, Matthew Shoor, AIA, and Muriel Watkins. Read more about our scholarship programs for architects and engineers, including a list of past winners, on the a/e ProNet website.

AIA Names Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects Nation’s Top Architecture Firm

By Lynda

pexels-photo-196642

Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, an a/e ProNet client hailing from San Francisco, California, has received the coveted AIA Architecture Firm Award for 2017.

“Firm principals William Leddy, FAIA, Marsha Maytum, FAIA, and Richard Stacy, FAIA, began collaborating in 1983 and the belief that architecture is the synthesis of poetics, economics, technologies, and meaning has always been embedded in the firm’s culture. Dedicated to addressing issues of resource depletion, climate change, historic preservation, and social equity, LMSA and its leadership clearly demonstrate that architects can help their communities adapt to a complex and rapidly changing world. To that end, the firm’s proficiency in diverse building types – from affordable housing to the adaptive reuse of historic structures – has been recognized with more than 140 design awards and are only one of three firms to have ever received eight AIA COTE Top Ten awards.”

Founded in 2001 by principals Marsha Maytum, Bill Leddy and Richard Stacy, LMSA is well known in the region for its long list of modern, sustainable projects. This includes the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley and North Beach branch library, as well as multiple low-income apartment buildings in the Bay Area. LMSA’s Plaza Apartments and Rene Cazeneve Apartments house “formerly homeless residents who need on-site support services to try to rebuild their lives.”

As noted by SFGate.com, “In announcing the selection, the AIA praised Leddy Maytum Stacy for its ‘highly influential work that advances issues of social consciousness and environmental responsibility.’ Only two other San Francisco-based firms have received the national firm award in the past 45 years: EHDD in 1986 and Gensler in 2000.”

LMSA has consistently ranked among the Top 50 firms each year since 2011. It considers itself “a teaching practice committed to developing complete, well-rounded architects, leaders in the profession and effective global citizens.” Read more in Architect Magazine.

Congratulations to Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects on this honor from the AIA! Your commitment to social consciousness and environmental responsibility is an inspiration.

Shout-out Credit

Leslie Pancoast, CIC, RPLU
Vice President IOA Insurance Services – Pleasanton, CA
Email: Leslie.Pancoast@ioausa.com / Phone: 925-416-7862

Two a/e ProNet Clients Win AIA Indiana Design Awards

By Lynda

Normal Hall in the evening shortly before unveiling. Photo credit: arcDESIGN

Last month, AIA Indiana announced the winners of their annual awards. Happily, a couple of familiar names were among the group.

ONE 10 STUDIO Architects came away with two awards. The first was a Merit Award (Preservation / Adaptive Reuse / Reservation) for the Marion County Public Defender Agency project.

Jury Comments:

Though entered as an adaptive reuse, this project was the strongest interior as well. A small number of elements (red doors, wood ceiling panels, white walls) are employed to create spaces that elevate the program – a public defender’s agency. The new systems are clearly articulated and juxtaposed with the historic shell that contains them.

ONE 10 STUDIO also achieved a Citation Award – New Construction (Project cost greater than $1 million) for their Reliant Partners project.

Jury Comments:

This small commercial building is expressed as a simple, wood frame pavilion placed upon a masonry plinth. This strategy allows the lower level bank to appear (appropriately) secure, while allowing the upper level office space to be airy and filled with daylight. The scale of the building appears to complement the neighborhood without copying the neighbors.

Also honored with a Citation Award (Preservation / Adaptive Reuse / Renovation) was arcDESIGN for their project at Indiana State University Normal Hall.

Jury Comments:

This project lovingly restores a series of public spaces lost and hidden by years of ill-conceived renovations. The preservation component of the project was thoroughly researched and painstakingly executed – recapturing the grandeur of this academic building. The work was very clearly communicated allowing the extent of the renovation to be completely understood.

Congratulations to all the Indiana design firms who won! And good luck going forward.

Shout-out Credit:

Holly Gill-Gaither, CIC
Agent, Professional Liability
Walker & Associates
Email: holly@walkeragency.com / Phone:317-759-9320

Hargreaves Wins Rosa Barba Prize for Int’l Landscape Design

By Lynda

In Barcelona last month, a/e ProNet client Hargreaves Associates received the Rosa Barba International Landscape Prize for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Senior Principal Mary Margaret Jones was on hand to collect the 15,000 Euro prize and spoke briefly about the project, which she helped design for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

The park converted an abandoned industrial area of the capital. After years of pollution damage, the riverbank needed rehabilitation, and Hargreaves found a way to do it. At 270 acres, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is the largest park created in Europe in more than 150 years.

As Jones said, the goal was to develop the area in a beautiful, sustainable way. Hargreaves Associates collaborated with London’s LDA Design on the innovative master plan. They combined traditional British landscapes with forward-thinking trends in green design. They hoped it would continue to be an asset to the city in the years after the Games had come and gone. The theme of the 9th International Biennial of Landscape Architecture was “Tomorrow Landscapes,” so the olympic park was the perfect candidate for the prize.

Learn more about the development of the park

Watch a short film on the creation of the park posted by the UK Landscape Institute. Or read more about the design at the Hargreaves website:

“The head gardener of the Olympic Park says,”This may have the feel of a Chelsea show garden, where everything has been grown to be at its best for the same limited period of time, but it really isn’t. After the Games, everything will be allowed to flower at its natural time of year. I’ve been a gardener for 35 years and I’d always previously worked on private estates because most municipal gardens are a bit crap. But this park is absolutely stunning.”

Congratulations to Hargreaves Associates! Read more about the award and ceremony at World-Architects.com.

Shout-out Credit:

Leslie Pancoast, CIC, RPLU
Managing Partner
IOA Insurance Services – Pleasanton, CA
Email: Leslie.Pancoast@ioausa.com / Phone: 925-416-7862

Farm-to-Table Community–The Cannery–Wins Gold Nugget Award

By Lynda

The Cannery–a master-planned, “farm-to-table” community in Davis, California featuring neighborhoods joined by beautiful sets of trails and bike paths–has received the Gold Nugget Award for the Best Residential Housing Community of the Year. Congratulations to a/e ProNet client Jeffrey DeMure + Associates, an integral part of the outstanding team of design professionals responsible for the win!

Shout-out Credit:

Leslie Pancoast, CIC, RPLU
Managing Partner
IOA Insurance Services – Pleasanton, CA
Email: Leslie.Pancoast@ioausa.com / Phone: 925-416-7862

ACEC Announces First a/e ProNet Engineering Scholarship Winner

By Lynda

The ACEC has announced the winners of its five national student awards, and among them is Lauren Grimley, winner of a/e ProNet’s first annual engineering scholarship.

Grimley will graduate from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan this year and enter the University of Iowa’s master’s program in water resources and environmental engineering in the fall. Grimley’s credentials as a student, her experience, and her enthusiasm for her selected field set her application apart. We’re excited to be a part of her journey toward professionalism and wish her the very best going forward.

Visit our scholarships page to read more about the two annual awards we sponsor every year.

Winners of 2016 a/e ProNet AIA Scholarships Announced

By Lynda

We partner with the AIA to give two scholarships to architecture students each year, and, as usual, we’re excited to announce the winners.

Laura Colagrande completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2013 and is enrolled in the M.Arch program at the University of Pennsylvania. With a background in design, she has worked as a designer for Middle of Broad in Richmond, VA, Wolcott AI, and Wirt Design, both located in Los Angeles. A constant desire to learn pushed Colagrande to add business skills, completing a business program at UCLA Extension and studying global marketing, branding, and risk and crisis management. She has learned the value of limiting risk and containing the negative consequences of a crisis, and is now implementing these lessons in the context of her studies in architecture.

Jonathan Teng graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies with Distinction in 2010, receiving a Faculty Award for Scholarship and Design and is enrolled in the M.Arch program at Washington University in St. Louis. He has held internships at Heliotrope Architects and Mahlum Architects, both of Seattle, WA. Teng has developed his ability to represent the LGBT community in architecture, and has set his focus on practicing design that provides inclusive and diverse spaces for everyone. As part of this process, he has learned to incorporate communication across the levels of the project, not just between the architect and the client, but also including the end-user when possible.

“The scholarship applicants this year demonstrated strengths in diversified areas within the submission requirements that made it challenging to select our winners,” said juror, Lira Luis, AIA. “The scholarship winners however, stood out among the rest because not only did their essays address the practice management topic in an articulate to-the- point manner, but also the suggested solutions demonstrated clear understanding of best practices such as peer reviews and the value of accountability, where risk is reasonably managed and future potential liabilities mitigated and the value of communication that includes in person interactions.”

Our scholarship was renamed in 1999 for David W. Lakamp, a founder of a/e ProNet and a trusted advisor to the profession. He left behind a legacy of professionalism and integrity that set new standards in the field of insurance services. The jury for the 2016 David W. Lakamp a/e ProNet Scholarship includes: Thomas G. Coghlan, Integro Insurance Brokers; David B. Richards, FAIA, LEED, AP, PMP, Rossetti and A. Lira Luis, AIA, RIBA, LEED AP BD+C.

Learn more about he a/e ProNet scholarships for both architecture and engineering students on our Scholarships page. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter! We tweet application openings and deadline reminders each year.

Congratulations, Laura & Jonathan!

Read the full AIA press release here.