The WMAIA Design Awards program is held every two years, in even-numbered years. This awards program alternates with the Green Giants Award program, which is held every two years in odd-numbered years.

In 2022, the WMAIA received 13 entries. Three Honor Awards – the highest award category – were presented; two Merit Awards were given, and one Citation Awards waspresented. The Chapter also held an informal Architects’ Choice runoff during the Annual Meeting; one project was given that award.

The entries and winners are shown below, and can be sorted.

The competition was open to any building type or landscape project anywhere in the world completed at any time in the last seven years (after January 1, 2013), if the architecture firm/architect-of-record or landscape architect currently has its principal office in Western Massachusetts, which is defined for the purposes of this program as Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties or if the architect having a lead project role (i.e., Project Principal, Project Designer, Project Architect, Project Manager) is a member of WMAIA. The sole criterion of the program is design excellence.

View 2020 WMAIA Design Awards entries and winners.

View 2018 WMAIA Design Awards entries and winners.

View 2016 WMAIA Design Awards entries and winners.

WMAIA Design Awards entries and winners from years prior to 2016 are not available on the website.

WMAIA 2022 Design Awards

The WMAIA 2022 Design Awards program was held in conjunction with the Western Massachusetts Section of the Boston Society of Landscape Architects, and was sponsored by Pella and by Keiter.

JURORS
Edward Becker
is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Virginia Tech and co-founder of the Finnish architectural investment firm Vör (Vör Architecture + Vör Capital Investments AB). As a registered, practicing architect in Helsinki, Finland and a member of the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA), he is currently engaged in ongoing housing projects in both Finland and the United States with particular focus on timber construction/innovation. He holds a Master of Architecture, with Distinction, from Harvard University.

Phoebe Crisman AIA is a licensed architect and urbanist with over 30 years of professional experience, she practiced with firms in Chicago, Cambridge and Hong Kong prior to establishing Crisman+Petrus Architects. Crisman is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia, where she teaches design studios and lectures on architectural theory, urbanism and sustainability. Crisman was educated at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and Carnegie Mellon University and conducted post-graduate research as a Fulbright Fellow in the Netherlands.

Carla Ellern ASLA, LEED® AP BD+C has over 25 years of experience practicing landscape architecture. At Lila Fendrick Landscape Architects in Chevy Chase, MD, she designs private gardens, public parks and streetscapes. Previously, she served for four years in the Montgomery County (MD) Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Her focus is on improving the environment and people’s lives by expanding knowledge and use of slow water initiatives and increasing native plants in our landscapes. She is President-Elect of the ASLA Potomac Chapter Executive Committee . She received her MLA from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard as well as a BA in Environmental Design from the University of Pennsylvania

Whitney Hudson is Senior Project Architect at Eskew Dumez Ripple in Washington DC.nHer focus is on thoughtful, interesting, and thorough designs in a wide variety of types including housing, educational facilities, museums, libraries, net-zero energy and corporate headquarters. She previously worked with Charles Rose architects where she was project architect for the Olver Transit building in Greenfield, MA. She received an M.Arch from the University of Virginia

Student Scholarships

This is the 12th year that we have been able to offer scholarships to local students, with the support of AIA National and Pella.

Submissions are judged for design excellence, clarity of presentation and community and/or University engagement by the applicant.

The 2022 WMAIA/AIA National Student Scholarships were presented to two students for their designs:
Xiaoyan Lang for Artists Dreamy House, a multi-generational housing complex design for Phoenix, AZ.
Connor Tiches for U.S. Mission to Geneva, a sustainable building for the City of Geneva, Switzerland.

Artists Dreamy House
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U.S. Mission to Geneva
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Keynote Speaker

The WMAIA was honored to host, as this year’s keynote speaker, Emily Grandstaff-Rice FAIA, 2023 AIA President.

Honorary Memberships

The WMAIA presented an Honorary Membership to MA Senator Jo Comerford, for her work on improving the built environment, climate policy and support of the green economy.

2023-01-20T11:01:36-05:00

UMass Student Union Renovation

WMAIA 2022 Design Awards HONOR AWARD Shepley Bullfinch, Boston, MA Reinvented as a social and cultural incubator, the newly renovated Student Union embraces student entrepreneurship and organizations that transform the building into a refreshed stage for campus life designed for equitable communities and campus well-being. The Union radiates energy [...]

2023-01-20T10:32:32-05:00

River Valley Coop

WMAIA 2022 Design Awards MERIT AWARD & ARCHITECTS' CHOICE AWARD Thomas Douglas Architects, Northampton, MA The River Valley Co-op is a consumer-owned food market that celebrates and strengthens the connection between consumers and the rich network of local and organic producers in the Pioneer Valley. With thoughtful material selections, [...]

2023-01-20T10:53:59-05:00

Hygge House

WMAIA 2022 Design Awards ENTRY UMass Design / Build, Amherst, MA The Hygge House is an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) designed and built by an interdisciplinary student team in collaboration with a local construction firm. The ADU is designed to be adaptable and expandable over time, is net-zero ready, [...]

2023-01-20T10:39:27-05:00

Hill House

WMAIA 2022 Design Awards ENTRY Rob Marcalow, AIA, Boston, MA Hill House is a new, multi-generational chapter for a large family home in rural Gill, Massachusetts. The construction of a new kitchen space and installation of a door and window converted the house to two independent units with separate [...]

2023-01-20T10:33:00-05:00

Gawith Hall

WMAIA 2022 Design Awards ENTRY Thomas Douglas Architects, Northampton, MA The transformation of Gawith Hall, the largest building of the historic Clarke School for the Deaf, from dormitories into a modern office space required creative design processes and solutions to bridge the client’s needs with requirements to earn historic [...]

2023-01-20T10:31:23-05:00

Calagioni Fitness Center – Northfield Mt. Hermon School

WMAIA 2022 Design Awards ENTRY Jones Whitsett Architects, Greenfield, MA This private high school renovation transformed a historically rich but outdated gym into a community-oriented fitness center. By re-purposing an existing building, this project was resource-efficient and economical. The 7,500 square-foot renovation includes a double-height gym, a student lounge, [...]

2023-01-20T10:31:56-05:00

Chicopee City Hall – Renovation

WMAIA 2022 Design Awards ENTRY Dietz & Company Architects, Inc., Springfield, MA Dietz & Company Architects designed the renovation of the historic 48,000-square-foot Chicopee City Hall including programming, rehabilitation of the exterior envelope and long-closed Auditorium, and accessibility upgrades. Guiding the design was balancing historic preservation with contemporary and [...]