Sustainability-focused architecture leads the 2022 field of AIA California Design Awards winners

The AIA California has just announced its annual slate of Design Awards recipients recognizing 25 projects from around the state that are marked by their environmental performance and the observed capacity to mitigate what the contest’s jury referred to as “the most pressing challenge of our time.” 

Special Commendations, Honor, Merit, and three select Climate Action Awards were given to projects that all met sustainability benchmarks laid forth by the AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence. The award announcement noted the three projects in the latter category’s “strong, holistic consideration” of sustainability practices in addition to their overall outcomes, which “protected and enhanced the delicate interface between the natural and the built environment.”

AIA California President Rona Rosenberg said the winners “demonstrate design in service of place and people, and showcase the very best of what we can achieve as a profession for our clients and the planet,” adding that each “represent[s] the most creative and visionary, environmentally sensitive architecture and design, which is required to reverse the record-breaking temperatures seen this summer and ensuing planetary crises.”

“These awards demonstrate tangible ways architects are making immediate and meaningful impacts in communities while recognizing the importance of climate action and the critical urgency of the issue,”  the chapter’s EVP Nicki Dennis Stephens added.

The chapter’s 2022 Design Awards winners are:

CLIMATE ACTION AWARD

Atherton Library by WRNS Studio
Atherton, CA

Jury comments: "A handsome, well-planned addition with excellent technical performance. The design is a welcome complement to the existing building striking a deft balance of scale, proportion and materials." — Read more here

Harvey Milk Terminal 1 by Woods Bagot, ED2 International, HKS, Inc. / KYA / Gensler / Kuth Ranieri
San Francisco, CA

Jury comments: "A beautiful, high-performing project from top to bottom, earning high scores in all areas of sustainability – we hope airport designers around the country and world will take note of the innovations in San Francisco." — Read more here

The Prow by Aidlin Darling Design
Seattle, WA

Jury comments: "An extraordinary project that is uplifting and transformative. Use of local/regional materials, vegetated roof, passive cooling strategies, and biophilia all contributed to its success." — Read more here

HONOR AWARD

Desert Palisades by Woods + Dangaran
Palm Springs, CA

Jury comments: "The building siting, organic natural materials both indoors and out, and expansive glazing strongly ground it into its surroundings and integrates it in a responsible, environmentally sensitive way." — Read more here

11 NOHO by Brooks + Scarpa
North Hollywood, CA

Jury comments: "A strong, holistic consideration of building performance wrapped into an architecturally interesting design that promotes social equity. The opening is successful in connecting you back to the City – a major move to breakdown the monolithic box." — Read more here

Sister Lillian Murphy Community by Paulett Taggart Architects with Studio VARA
San Francisco, CA 

Jury comments: "This multifamily project is handsome, variegated, and possesses a good urban presence. It addresses the needs of families living and working in the urban environment; extending the range of its impact by providing services to the broader neighborhood." — Read more here

High Desert Retreat by Aidlin Darling Design
Palm Springs, CA

Jury comments: "An impressive zero net energy residential project with broad overhangs in dialogue with the vastness of the high desert; a well executed design and a stunning home." — Read more here

MERIT AWARD

• Caymus-Suisun Winery (Fairfield, CA) by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson 
• Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center (Los Angeles, CA) by AUX Architecture 
• Kol Emeth (Palo Alto, CA) by Field Architecture 

• Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television (Los Angeles, CA) by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
• MacLac Building D (San Francisco, CA) by Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects with Peter Logan Architecture and Design (PLAD)
• Mar Vista(Los Angeles, CA) by Woods + Dangaran

• SoFi Stadium and Entertainment District (Los Angeles, CA) by HKS, Inc.
• The Press (Costa Mesa, CA) by Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects
• Three Gables (Napa, CA) by Aidlin Darling Design
• UC Riverside Plant Research 1 (Riverside, CA) by Perkins&Will

SPECIAL COMMENDATION

• Clifford L. Allenby Building (Sacramento, CA) by ZGF Architects, Lionakis, Rudolph & Sletten
• Geneva Car Barn & Powerhouse (San Francisco, CA) by Aidlin Darling Design
• Hayward Library & Community Learning Center (Hayward, CA) by Noll & Tam Architects
• Jeff and Judy Henley Hall: Institute for Energy Efficiency (Isla Vista, CA) by KieranTimberlake

• La Selva Beach Library (La Selva Beach, CA) by Jayson Architecture
• Leimert Park Community Fridge (Los Angeles, CA) by Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects
• TIDE Academy (Menlo Park, CA) by LPA Design Studios
• UCSD North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood (San Diego, CA) by HKS, Inc. with Safdie Rabines Architects