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We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Design Awards Program. Out of 56 submissions, the jury awarded 19 projects from Single Family Residential, Institutional & Commercial, Renovation & A
We are pleased to announce the winners of the
2024 Design Awards Program.Out of 56 submissions, the jury awarded 19 projects from Single Family Residential, Institutional & Commercial, Renovation & Adaptive Reuse, Small Projects under $350,000, Student categories, and our first Architrave Award. 2024 Design Awards Website. Our website shows all of the information shared with our jury. Many of our architecture teams have been very generous with their knowledge, from sharing their best practices for reducing EUI to the lessons learned on the project. This website is a valuable resource for anyone looking to learn from their colleagues. View the website here.
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A big congratulations to all of our winning entries.
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Honor AwardCategory: Renovation & Adaptive Reuse Summary: 50 Exchange Street epitomizes the quaint allure of 19th-century red brick architecture in Portland's historic Old Port. Entrusted to our firm, it underwent a transformative revival, gaining four dwelling units and a fourth story, while conserving its historic essence through prudent use of tax credits. Jury Comments: Beautiful execution of an adaptive reuse where the structure was able to be salvaged. The fourth level is well executed. The materiality is light and elegantly complements the historic rooftop. Elegant and skillful blend of its history and new life. The architecture doesn't whitewash over the history in the name of restoration. The sensitivity of the discrete positioning of the penthouse relevant to the building's presence on the street. |
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Honor AwardCategory: Single Family Residential Summary: Carefully designed within the site, this house is pulled apart into a series of spaces dispersed into the woods with compact, precise insertions. This design choreographs openness, views and relationships, prioritizing the experiences in-between built forms and within the wild natural environment. Jury Comments: There is consistency in the consideration of detail that weaves through all structures. The expression of the roof framing is very compelling. The structure is effortlessly integrated into the site. All the jurors agree that this is a place we'd like to spend time. It has a scale that is very inviting. |
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Honor AwardCategory: Institutional & Commercial Summary: The Colby College Dormitories designed and delivered four high-performance residence halls to Colby College in just 15 months. A replicable building design, rapid modular construction, and an integrated design-build team successfully satisfied an urgent need for housing and maintained the College’s high standards for quality, sustainability, and design. Jury Comments: The project's delivery showcases the architect's role in problem-solving to create a beautiful project. The restraint in the use of materials is very refreshing. Embracing wood as a natural material is commendable. Letting the shade and shadow over the form create interest in the facade is well done. |
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Knickerbocker Group, Juniper IHonor AwardCategory: Small Projects (budgets under $350,000) Summary: As the inaugural build of our Prefabrication Division, Juniper I embodies an art-infused design maximizing light, space, and connectivity to nature. Featuring cutting-edge building and mechanical systems, Juniper I champions biophilic living sustainably. Each Prefab Pod is designed and built in Maine, with 95% completed at our Prefabrication Facility. Jury Comments: Well executed detailing and finishes with an impressive ambition of budget as it relates to sustainability and accessibility. The transparency paired the achievement of energy efficiency is commendable. The design within such a small footprint is smart. |
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Honor AwardCategory: Single Family Residential Summary: This family-oriented Carrabassett Valley retreat balances a desire for sweeping mountain views with needs for protection from harsh mountain winters, and privacy from the surrounding popular trail system. Its gabled form echoes traditional alpine shelters, whilst deeply set openings offer sweeping valley views and direct access to the landscape. Jury Comments: The simplicity and clarity of this project is commendable. The materials feel "of the place" and have an experiential quality that is richly residential. There's a sophistication to the detailing on the inside and outside. |
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Merit Award
Category: Single Family Residential Summary: Settled within the pines and mirroring the shape of a nearby cove, Pine Cove is a trio of buildings designed for exploration and reflection. The design was inspired by its unique location and a pair of artistic, adventurous clients. Jury Comments: The detailing within the interior creates rich elements that plays with design and color in a beautiful way. |
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Merit Award
Category: Single Family Residential Summary: A young family with two kids asked us to design an all-season retreat at the edge of Acadia National Park. We were encouraged to create a structure that would "sit lightly on the ground,” respecting the beloved natural setting they had visited for many years of picnicking and camping. Jury Comments: The interior and exterior work together nicely and the forms are compelling. The profile of the roof forms creates an elegant composition. |
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Merit Award
Category: Renovation & Adaptive Reuse Summary: A former call center has been transformed into a state-of-the-art, 10,000-sf nature-based childcare center at the University of Maine Farmington. The center provides daily care for children ages zero to six and serves as a lab school for students in the university’s teacher education program. Jury Comments: The programming change from a call center to a childcare center is very compelling. The scale and color of the child-centered spaces are well-considered. The material and art selection with influences from nature create a unique space for children. |
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Merit Award
Category: Institutional & Commercial
Summary: The Portland Commons Residence Hall and McGoldrick Center for Career & Student Success transformed the University of Southern Maine’s Portland commuter campus into a welcoming residential community. The new buildings and landscape enhance social equity, drive economic prosperity, and promote environmental stewardship through Passive House design. Jury Comments: Commendable sustainability performance. The mass timber becoming part of the iconography of the building is very nicely done. The material integration of the interior and exterior creates a unique project that is well integrated. |
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Merit Award
Category: Institutional & Commercial
Summary: The West End Apartments introduce 116 units of beautiful, sustainable, and permanently affordable housing to South Portland, Maine. The buildings advance the West End Neighborhood Master Plan by creating a precedent for an inclusive, diverse, and walkable neighborhood focused on high-performance design and a high quality of living. Jury Comments: We value the effort and thought taken into consideration to create a dignified design for affordable housing. The creative use and deployment of inexpensive materials creates a rich texture on the exterior. The details of the windows and articulation on the facade are successfully executed. |
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Citation AwardCategory: Single Family Residential Summary: This net-positive year-round Maine residence is a contemporary response to a rugged site and rich local building culture. Referencing vernacular connected buildings, the house assembles three gabled forms joined by a central element with a vegetated roof. The open-plan interior is forthrightly modern, with broad planes of natural-finish wood. Jury Comments: The composition and siting is well considered. The way it integrates with the landscape and its' integration of sustainability is successful. |
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Citation AwardCategory: Institutional & Commercial Summary: Harold Alfond Hall creates a visionary new home for Husson University’s College of Business. It unites experiential learning with real-world business resources in response to Maine’s increasing demand for a technologically skilled workforce. The design expresses this future-focused mission through a modern interpretation of the state’s agricultural legacy. Jury Comments: The simplicity of the form and elegance of the standing seam wrapping the roof and enclosure of the building create a beautiful building. |
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Gavin Engler Architect PLLC, Spring StreetCitation AwardCategory: Small Projects (budgets under $350,000) Summary: Located in Portland, Maine's West End, re-imagined interiors transform and optimize the dining, kitchen, pantry, and routine entry of this historic 1867 house for future years of enjoyment. Stripped of a Century's worth of alterations, the design restores and accentuates original details and natural daylighting within the eleven-foot height spaces. Jury Comments: The rigor and attention to detail achieves a clean and beautiful aesthetic. |
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Kaplan Thompson Architects, Studio 84Citation AwardCategory: Single Family Residential Summary: Studio 84 packs practicality and party into an adaptable space designed for creative expression and community events. Built as a Net Zero Energy accessory structure to a family's bayside residence, it refreshes the traditional versatility and low-impact construction of a barn with amenities for modern work and play. Jury Comments: Citation for interiors and programming for use by the community. |
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Merit Award for Unbuilt ArchitectureCategory: Professional Unbuilt Summary: Sited along a narrow shoreline lot, Harbor Residence strategically responds to the constraints of zoning and land preservation regulations. Bound by the footprint of the current structure, the project finds inventive ways to offer captivating views from all primary spaces and bedrooms, while accommodating the needs of multiple generations. Jury Comments: The building's form and diagram are clear and create an interesting section. The atmospheric quality of the renderings is very successful. |
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Architrave AwardSummary: The design team worked in close collaboration to fulfill the Owner’s vision to revitalize the dilapidated island cottage site off the coast of Harpswell, Maine. The result is a collection of energy efficient, finely detailed and crafted vernacular buildings for living, gathering, and connecting with the local island community. Jury Comments: Traditional architecture needs to embrace the materials and detailing of the past, but it must also employ historic design principles such as proportion, and speak to the history of a place by exploring the architectural vernacular. “Little Hen House” does all three, creating a timeless beauty characteristic of traditional architecture, and making it the clear winner of AIA Maine’s first Architrave Award. |
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Luc Thorington and Kyle Sylvester, while students at Wentworth Institute of Technology, Lowell MakerspaceHonor Award for Student Unbuilt ArchitectureSummary: The Lowell Makerspace serves as a workshop and exhibition center in Lowell, Massachusetts. Its design honors the city’s history, where the economy and culture were built on the process of weaving. This idea of weaving translates directly into the architecture, where the design aims to interconnect and intertwine Lowell’s community. Jury Comments: The clarity of graphics is concise and creative. There is a high quality of images and rendersings that are simple and attractive. The section is beautiful, and the subtly of the linework is well done. The design is ambitious, creative, and beautiful. |
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Barclay Finck, while a student at the University of Maine at Augusta, BArch, Bridging the Gap
Merit Award for Student Unbuilt ArchitectureSummary: ARC 408 Community Design Studio, students were tasked with designing affordable housing in Augusta, ME. The project brief described a non-profit organization, Sheltering Families of Central Maine, that helps single-parent families transition from homeless shelters to being able to acquire their own housing without the need for financial assistance. Jury Comments: The representation is at a consistent high level with an excellent graphic quality. The simplicity of materials and rational plan is very successful. We like the entry sequence from the side which is clever. |
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Ryan Lagasse, Megan Brown, Isaac Austin, while students at the University of Maine at Augusta, BArch, YMCA Summer CampCitation Award for Student Unbuilt ArchitectureSummary: The junior counselor cabin is created with leadership at its core, providing bunk rooms and community spaces that promote growth and education. The site is located within a traditional lakeside summer camp that desires connection between the environment and camp atmosphere. Jury Comments: The way the section follows the program and addresses natural lighting is elegant. The split roof element, curving form, and porch create a successful structure for the YMCA camp. |
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In addition to the juried awards, we received over 1,500 in-person and online votes for our People’s Choice Awards. This year’s People’s Choice winners were:Kanú, Ervin Architecture, Institutional & CommercialJuniper I, Knickerbocker Group, ResidentialLowell Makerspace, Luc Thorington and Kyle Sylvester, while students at Wentworth Institute of Technology, Student
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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
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