AIA Honor Awards go to four Minnesota architecture firms

Four Minnesota architecture firms swept all eight of the Honor Awards presented Thursday, Nov. 13, by AIA Minnesota at its 80th annual convention and exhibition. Three of the awards went to HGA Architects and Engineers (HGA), two each to Vincent James' firm VJAA and Snow Kreilich Architects, and one to Leo A. Daly.

The winning projects were executed for a mix of clients and project types including corporate headquarters, educational institutions, a public library, a non-profit music camp, an apartment complex and a private residence.

Most projects have a modernist look with boxy profiles, large expanses of glass, and flat roofs. The exceptions are streamlined, Shaker-style cottages designed as musician's studios on a woodsy site in Vermont, and the renovation of Northrop Performing Arts Center at the University of Minnesota, a clunky 1929 behemoth that was gutted and reconfigured at a well-spent cost of $88.2 million that upgraded acoustics, lobbies, seating, stage amenities and -- to the relief of many patrons-- bathrooms.

The projects were judged in five categories -- architecture, interiors, restoration and renovation, urban design and master planning, small project. They were chosen by a team of national jurors consisting of Angela Brooks, a principal at Brooks + Scarpa in Los Angeles, Mary-Jean Eastman, principal and executive director of Perkins Eastman in New York, and Dan Rockhill, a University of Kansas architecture professor and executive director of Studio 804.

The winners are:

HGA Architects and Engineers (HGA) for the Marlboro Music Cottages at the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Marlboro, Vermont. The project team included Dan Avchen, principal; Joan Soranno, lead designer; John Cook, project manager/ architect; and Doug Gerlach.

HGA Architects and Engineers (HGA) for the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, Phase II, Studio Art building at Macalester College in St. Paul. The project team consisted of Gary Reetz, principal; Rebecca Celis,project manager; Tim Carl, lead designer; Rebecca Krull Kraling, architect; Andy Weyenberg, Jesse Zeien, Cheryl Amdal, Ross Altheimer, Erica Christenson, and Robert Johnson Miller.

VJAA, lead design firm with RDH-Toronto, architect of record, for the Welland International Flatwater Centre in Welland, Ontario. Clients were the City of Welland and the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games. The team consisted of principals Vincent James and Jennifer Yoo, managing principal Nathan Knutson and project team members Paul Yaggie, Nat Madson, Tim Ogren and Nate Steuerwald.

VJAA for the Hennepin County Walker Library on Hennepin Av. in Uptown, Minneapolis. The team consisted of Vincent James and Jennifer Yoos, principals; Nathan Knutson, managing principal; Paul Yaggie, senior project architect; Eric West and Nate Steuerwald, project managers; and team members Emma Huckett, Dzenita Hadziomerovic, Tim Ogren, Karen Lu and Kai Salmela.

Snow Kreilich Architects for the Brunsfield North Loop Apartments on N. Washington Avenue in Minneapolis. The team consisted of Matthew Kreilich, principal-in-charge and lead designer; Kar-Keat Chong, manager; and project architects Tyson McElvian and Mary Springer.

Snow Kreilich Architects for a Lake Minnetonka retreat home in Deephaven, Mn. The team was headed by Julie Snow, principal-in-charge, with Matthew Kreilich, design principal and Mary Springer, project manager and architect.