AIA Chapters Spread the Praise to Regional Players

The New York City, Connecticut, and Long Island chapters of the American Institute of Architects awarded 2005 prizes to local firms for projects both at home and abroad. Also, two local bridge projects win top national honors.

AIA Chapters Honor Top Designs

Several regional chapters of the American Institute of Architects paid tribute to design excellence in 2005, including the New York City chapter, which recognized nine New York-based architects in its 2005 Housing Design honors. The awards, which recognize residential projects ranging from "homeless shelters to luxury living," went to:

• Strivers Gardens on W. 135th St. in Manhattan by Davis Brody Bond
  
• Marcy Ave. Residence in Brooklyn by Jonathan Kirschenfeld Associates
  
• Melrose Commons in the Bronx by Magnusson Architecture & Planning
  
• 165 Charles St. in Manhattan by Richard Meier & Partners
  
• the Bronx Row Houses in the Bronx by Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects
  
• the Dance Building at 219 W. 19th St. in Manhattan by Rawlings Architects
  
• 14 Townhouses at 267-287 State St. in Brooklyn by Rogers Marvel Architects
  
• the Porter House at 66 Ninth Ave. in Manhattan by SHoP Architects
  
• First World in Songdo, Korea, by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

The chapter also recognized five other projects by New York-based architects with "citations," including: the 114-116 Hudson Street Condominium in Manhattan by BKSK Architects; 381 Broome Street/176 Mulberry Street in Manhattan by Beyhan Karahan & Associates, Architect; the Parkledge Apartments renovation in Yonkers, N.Y., by Magnusson; Schermerhorn House in Brooklyn by Polshek Partnership Architects; and 270 Greenwich St. in Manhattan by Skidmore Owings & Merrill.

AIA's Connecticut chapter presented 16 awards for 2005 projects, ranging from landscaping to large commercial projects.

Large projects awarded included:

• the accessibility addition to Woodbridge Hall at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., by that city's Charney Architects
  
• the Hopkins School dining-heath facility in New Haven by S/L/A/M Collaborative of Glastonbury, Conn.
  
• the King/Robinson Magnet School in New Haven by New York-based Davis Brody Bond
  
• RK Restaurant in Rye, N.Y., by Roger Ferris + Partners of Westport, Conn.
  
• and the National Museum of Art in Osaka, Japan by New Haven's Pelli Clarke Pelli.

Among other large projects, the Goodwin Hotel exterior rehabilitation in Hartford, Conn., by Hoffmann Architects of North Haven, Conn., won the top preservation award.

AIA's Long Island chapter announced its 2005 Archi Award winners for design excellence. Large project winners included:

• Freeport Elementary School in Freeport, N.Y., and Babylon Elementary School in Babylon, N.Y., both by New York's Gruzen Samton
  
• Nepague Tundra Residence in Amagansett, N.Y., by Stelle Architects of Bridgehampton, N.Y.
  
• Chelsea Condominiums in Manhattan by Audrey Matlock of New York and Sag Harbor, N.Y.
  

Bridge Projects Garner Recognition

The American Segmental Bridge Institute, a nonprofit organization promoting the building of concrete segmental bridges, recently recognized two local projects. The contest honored concrete segmental or cable-stayed bridges opened or dedicated between January 2003 and August 2005 across the nation.

Of eight finalists in the Bridge Awards of Excellence competition, the institute recognized the JFK Airtrain serving John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, whose 5,409 segments were constructed in just 20 months, and the Victory Bridge, a twin-span 3,971-ft.-long structure built to replace a swing-span bridge across the Raritan River between Perth Amboy and Sayreville, N.J.

GBC Marks Milestones, Announces Safety Awards

The General Building Contractors of New York State, based in Albany, recently announced its safety excellence award winners, celebrated its semi-centennial, and elected a new president.

GBC's safety awards recognize New York companies that continually maintain safe working conditions at their job sites. The 2005 winners were: Citnalta Construction of Bohemia; Darlind Construction of LaGrangeville; E.W. Howell Co. of Woodbury; Hueber-Breuer Construction of Syracuse; LeCesse Construction of West Henrietta; LeChase Construction and Pike Co., both of Rochester; LPCiminelli of Buffalo; Monadnock Construction of Brooklyn; Sano-Rubin Construction of Albany; Storm King Contracting of Montgomery; and Turner Construction of New York.

Nicholas Lembo, president of Monadnock, which is a general contractor and construction manager, recently took over as president of the GBC, succeeding Pat Murnane of Murnane Building Contractors based in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

The GBC also marked its 50th anniversary as New York's chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America. The association now has more than 300 member firms.

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