Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Wins Five Awards for Design

AIA Pennsylvania honored the 2006 Design Award winners in a ceremony at the Pennsylvania Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg on March 28, 2006. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson received five out of a total of seventeen awards presented by AIA Pennsylvania, more than any other firm. Receiving Honor Awards for Design were The Barn at Fallingwater in Mill Run, PA; the Visitor Activity Center for the Pocono Environmental Education Center in Dingman?s Ferry, PA; and the Raptor Exhibit for the Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Quechee, VT. Citations of Merit went to the Fieldhouse for Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia and the Shelving Rock Residence on Lake George in New York state.



The Barn at Fallingwater

This 12,000 square foot renovation and adaptive reuse of a nineteenth-century bank barn with attached 1940s-era dairy barn is the first phase of a visitor center and conference complex for the non-profit Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Located on a site adjacent to the world-famous Fallingwater estate, the project features a multi-purpose assembly and exhibit space, administrative offices, retail support storage and space for local community meetings and events. Jury members like the Barn's great combination of wit, playfulness and restraint, while admiring its interior textures and the way the different materials worked together, particularly the contrast of rough timber framing, beautiful hardwood floor and inventive louvers.



Pocono Environmental Education Center

Focused on the principles of sustainable design and environmental stewardship, this new Visitor Activity Center functions as a gathering space for dining, meetings, lectures and other learning activities. In a layered design solution, visitors pass through a forest and across a wetland, entering the building through an opening in the dark north wall, passing through a bar of service spaces into the bright, sunlit main room. Jurors called the Center a "very modern building using humane, warm materials." They praised the project's economy, and added, "It is a simple concept executed well." Jurors admired the creative use of discarded tires reclaimed from the site for use as walls.



Raptor Exhibit at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science

The Raptor Exhibit is the first phase of a future Nature Center for the non-profit Vermont Institute of Natural Science, which is actively engaged in environmental education and research, as well as the rehabilitation and display of hawks, eagles, owls and other birds of prey. The 47-acre site illustrates the effects of both human and natural forces on the landscape. Local materials were used as much as possible in building the raptor enclosures, while a former gravel pit on the property was re-graded for use as a visitor parking area. Jury members applauded the way the scheme fits the project's intended use and its site. "The structure uses modest materials in creating a sense of gathering and inward focus," they added, noting that it looks as if it is circled around a campfire. The jurors, who unanimously expressed the desire to visit the Raptor Exhibit, also praised the "fantastic" incorporation of signage, and the fact that the surrounding forest is visible through the structure.



Field House, Germantown Friends School

Germantown Friends School's new 17,000-square-foot Field House is an important landmark for the institution, as well as a significant participant in its residential neighborhood. Focusing on athletic instruction and play for lower and middle school children, the $4.9 million structure fulfills it educational mission to provide a multipurpose space that embraces green building technology and sustainable design, while fitting into the sensitive fabric of its historic surroundings. Jury members remarked that they had "not seen a more beautiful gymnasium." They added, "This is a simple, direct approach to making a space that satisfies the program. The architects did a lot to break down the scale and make great use of light. The interior environment is above par for a gymnasium. The Klauder brickwork is particularly notable." The jury also admired the Field House's execution, despite its limited budget.



Shelving Rock Residence

Set on a bluff in a dense forest on the east shore of Lake George, this vacation house will eventually serve as a full time residence. The linear plan takes advantage of lake views, while the low roof profile and stained green exterior cedar siding meld into the surrounding forest. "The house is beautifully sited," said admiring jurors. They added, "The house makes a great intervention with the landscape, with the materials and palette complementing the natural setting. The plan is beautiful; it is tight, clean and logical and manifests itself in the organization of the spaces. The house is handsomely detailed and feels comfortable." The jurors, who went on to praise the staircase with its impressive built-in cabinetry, all agreed they would be happy to live in this house.