Project News:
Machias Elementary Featured in New York Exhibition
The Edgeless School: Design for Learning features nineteen 21st century school buildings from across the U.S. that blur distinctions between learning needs, approaches and environments.  NAC’s Machias Elementary School in Snohomish, Washington is one of the schools featured at the Center for Architecture, home to the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter and the Center for Architecture Foundation.

“Edgelessness is a defining feature of the 19 schools featured in the exhibit, which explores what both architects and educators are thinking about today, in terms of how technology is impacting the way people learn and how to best teach young people,” said Thomas Mellins, curator of The Edgeless School.

The Edgeless School will be on display through January 19, 2013.
Arbol de la Vida Best in the Southwest
Each year, Engineering News Record magazine honors the Southwest's best projects, as seen by a panel of judges representing all facets of the design and construction industry. For 2012, the University of Arizona’s Arbol de la Vida Residence Hall took top honors in the residential classification. In its 15th year, the Southwest region received 138 submissions in 18 categories.
Riverview Elementary Wins Grand Prize
The Fall 2012 edition of The American School Board Journal’s Learning By Design Awards honored Riverview Elementary School, Snohomish, Washington, with a Grand Prize. One judge cited the school as “matching great architecture with extremely efficient operating costs, and very deliberately creating a sense of place on that site.” The facility features a ground-source heat pump HVAC system and a 100-kW solar panel array.
Arbol de la Vida wins Masonry Honor Award
Sponsored by the Arizona Masonry Guild, the 21st Annual Excellence in Masonry Architectural Awards program honored projects for outstanding masonry design, workmanship and creativity with the use of brick, block, or stone. Arbol de la Vida, a large residential complex at the University of Arizona comprised of five buildings housing over 700 students, received an Honor Award in 2012 awards.
Residence Hall wins SCUP Award
The Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) and the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on Architecture for Education has presented a Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture for a New Building to NAC|Architecture for the Arbol de la Vida Residence Hall at the University of Arizona. Arbol de la Vida is a residential complex at the University of Arizona comprised of five buildings housing over 700 students. The primary challenge was to reconcile the campus master plan's requirement for a denser, more compact, urban site development with the community needs of a 21st century honors college.

Jury comments included; “ . . . they tried to do something programmatically different with the residence hall and carried it through very successfully . . . it has a lot of smart aspects to it ... lots of innovation ...”

Established in 1965, SCUP is a community of senior, higher education leaders who are responsible for, or are involved in, the integration of planning on their campuses and for the professionals who support them.
NAC Projects Receive 2012 AIA Washington Civic Design Awards
Machias Elementary School, Snohomish School District, garnered a Merit Award and  Ardmore Elementary School, Bellevue School District, and Riverview Elementary School, Snohomish School District, received Honor Awards at the 2012 AIA Washington Civic Design Awards ceremony. Riverview was also presented with an Excellence in Masonry Design Honor Award by the Masonry Institute of Washington. AIA Washington's goal is to recognize and reinforce public agencies striving to produce excellence in design of their projects.
Lynnwood Recreation Center is Editor's Choice Winner
Each year, innovative recreation, sports and fitness facilities from throughout the United States and Canada are considered for Recreation Management’s Innovative Architecture & Design Awards.  The 2012 program marks the tenth anniversary of the awards.  Only one project is selected to be the Editor’s Choice.  Comments from the Judges on Lynnwood Recreation Center included, “One of the more innovative facilities with respect to energy savings, and the creation of an indoor/outdoor experience. Very nice use of exposed structural wood elements and a subtle yet rich interior palette to evoke a warm and welcoming user experience."
Riverview Elementary School Honored at CEFPI Design Exhibit


Riverview Elementary School Honored at CEFPI Design Exhibit: Riverview Elementary School received a Merit Award at the 2012 Pacific Northwest Regional Conference of the Council of Educational Planners International (CEFPI) Design Exhibit. CEFPI's mission is improving the places where children learn
Double Win in 2012 AIA Educational Facility Design Awards
Ardmore Elementary School has been selected to receive a Design Excellence Award and Riverview Elementary School has been selected to receive a Citation Award in the 2012 AIA Educational Facility Design Awards. Jury comments about Ardmore included, “This is a well thought out and crafted project with depth and integrity in all areas of educational environment design.”  In reviewing Riverview, the jury said, “It is a true integration of spaces for learning.”
Sponsored by the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE), the awards seek to identify, honor, and disseminate projects and ideas that exhibit innovation and excellence through:
  • The enhancement of the client's educational program through the thoughtful planning and
    design of facilities
  • The integration of function and aesthetics in
    designs that also respect the surrounding community and context
  • A planning/design process that is educational, collaborative, and builds the capacity of the
    school and its community to support its students
Sixth Street Residence Halls Attain LEED Platinum
University of Arizona’s Sixth Street Residence Halls were recently certified LEED Platinum – the highest possible sustainable design ranking under the United States Green Building Council.  Although the initial goal was two levels lower (LEED Silver), creativity and dedication among the entire team resulted in the first residential project to earn LEED Platinum certification in the State of Arizona. Sustainable design strategies for the 1088-bed Sixth Street Residence Halls included an off-site photovoltaic array, a solar thermal water heating system, a rainwater harvesting system and indirect evaporative cooling.  Students can even monitor the buildings’ energy and resource use in real time through an internet-based “Building Dashboard.”  Trees and cacti were rescued from the site, nurtured off-site during construction and re-introduced to their native habitat as landscaping after construction.
Sixth Street Residence Halls Win GE Edison Award
NAC|Architecture’s Sixth Street Residence Halls at the University of Arizona in Tucson have won the 2011 GE Edison Award for Environmental Design.

The Award for Environmental Design gives special recognition to those projects that minimize the use of energy, maximize the use of daylighting, control light pollution, and ensure system durability and maintainability. Previously called the Award for Sustainable Design, this award has been renamed to better reflect its focus on the creation of environmentally-sensitive lighting designs that respect the needs of people while showcasing the latest lighting system and control technologies.
Machias Elementary School Garners Grand Award
Machias Elementary School has received the Grand Award from Learning by Design, which will be published in the magazine’s Spring 2012 issue.  The school showcases the Snohomish, WA community’s heritage through an exploration of its rural identity.  Curved beams salvaged from the original school are reused as arching columns, generating a curvilinear form in which circulation and communal learning spaces such as the library, interdisciplinary learning lab, and resource classroom reside.   Machias incorporates extensive sustainability strategies which are displayed throughout the school to serve as teaching tools for faculty and students. No fossil fuels are used to operate Machias which is estimated to use 39% of the energy of a typical school building.
Riverview Elementary School Awarded Grand Prize
Riverview Elementary School in Snohomish, Washington, was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2012 National School Board Association Exhibition of School Architecture.

As the congratulatory letter said, "The jury’s unanimous reaction to this project was WOW! This dynamic design’s meaningful connection to nature created opportunities for learning to take place in multiple places.This building was planned and designed with an eye toward the future and skillfully takes advantage of the change in topography. From the sustainable elements to the careful use of materials, all work together to bring this school to life and engage children. A highly successful solution to the design challenge."

The project will be exhibited at the NSBA conference in Boston, Massachusetts, April 21-22.
 
Machias Elementary School Featured in Architectural Record
Machias Elementary School in Snohomish, Washington, is one of a half dozen schools
featured in Architectural Record’s January 2012
feature on Schools of the 21st Century.
NAC|Architecture Takes Honor Award in Tokyo

The Cathcart Site in Snohomish, Washington, received an Honor Award at the 2011 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Pacific Northwest Region Design Awards held in Tokyo. The project comprises 65 acres and includes Little Cedars Elementary School and Glacier Peak High School.
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