Architecture

AIA Small Project Awards celebrates scaled-down design excellence

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Casa de Baño was designed by Robert Hutchison Architecture & JSa Arquitectura and is a winner in Category One, which recognizes projects that cost up to US$150,000 to build. The bathhouse is one of 11 projects that make up the 2021 AIA Small Project Awards
Robert Hutchison Architecture/JSa
Casa de Baño was designed by Robert Hutchison Architecture & JSa Arquitectura and is a winner in Category One, which recognizes projects that cost up to US$150,000 to build. The bathhouse is one of 11 projects that make up the 2021 AIA Small Project Awards
Robert Hutchison Architecture/JSa
Casa de Baño is located west of Mexico City and is part of a larger off-grid settlement. It's fed by a rainwater harvesting system and includes a hot bath, sauna, steam shower, and washroom organized around a central cold plunge pool that's open to the sky
Robert Hutchison Architecture/JSa
Celebration Park was designed by David Corban Architect. The project is a winner in Category Two, which recognizes projects that cost up to $1.5 million to build
Joshua Colt Fisher
Celebration Park is located in Florida. The project serves as a food truck park that features permanent services, including a bar and a shading structure
Joshua Colt Fisher
Community First! Village Micro House #710 was designed by McKinney York Architects. The tiny house is a winner in Category One, which recognizes projects that cost up to $150,000 to build
Thomas McConnell
Community First! Village Micro House #710 joins 129 similar homes in a community near Austin, Texas. They were developed to provide housing and support for homeless people. The house was made from energy efficient and cost-effective materials, and is oriented to maximize natural cooling. Its interior is compact but offers a safe and comfortable home
Thomas McConnell
Fraesfield Trailhead at the Scottsdale McDowell Sonoran Preserve was designed by SmithGroup. It's a winner in Category Two, which recognizes projects that cost up to $1.5 million to build
Matt Winquist, Winquist Photography
Fraesfield Trailhead at the Scottsdale McDowell Sonoran Preserve is located in Phoenix, Arizona (the USA's largest urban land preserve). Its overall form is designed to blend into the surrounding landscape and it offers shade, educational space, and a platform for viewing the landscape, as well as bathrooms and an outpost for volunteers
Matt Winquist, Winquist Photography
Gillson Park Beach House was designed by Woodhouse Tinucci Architects. It's a winner in Category Three, which recognizes projects that measure under 5,000 sq ft (464 sq m)
Woodhouse Tinucci Architects
Gillson Park Beach House is located in Chicago, Illinois, and serves the local community with a new lifeguard station and restrooms. It's designed to blend into the surrounding sand dune landscape
Woodhouse Tinucci Architects
Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center was designed by Architecture Building Culture. The center is a winner in Category Three, which recognizes projects that measure under 5,000 sq ft (464 sq m)
Architecture Building Culture
Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center serves as a culturally appropriate and welcoming campus for all current and future black students at the University of Oregon. Its design is inspired by W. E. B. Du Bois' influential novel, The Souls of Black Folk
Architecture Building Culture
Peach Hut was designed by ATELIER XI. The project is a winner in Category One, which recognizes projects that cost up to $150,000 to build
Chao Zhang
Peach Hut is located in Henan, China. Situated in a field of blossoming peach trees in a rural area, it's the first in a series of planned pavilions, which will be used to facilitate arts and culture education. It currently serves as a flexible community space that contains a small library
Chao Zhang
Pemberton Residence was designed by Alterstudio Architecture. The home is a winner in Category Two, which recognizes projects that cost up to $1.5 million to build
Casey Dunn
Pemberton Residence is located in Austin, Texas, and is envisioned as a modest home. It has been carefully situated for optimal solar and wind orientation, encouraging semi-outdoor living. Its overall design is inspired by architect Joseph Eichlers' well-regarded Northern California homes
Casey Dunn
Portage Bay Float Home was designed by Studio DIAA. The project is a winner in Category Two, which recognizes projects that cost up to $1.5 million to build
Kevin Scott
Portage Bay Float Home began as a renovation and then became a demolition due to the poor state of the original home. This new replacement fits in well with the surrounding neighborhood and offers a modern energy efficient interior
Kevin Scott
Society's Cage was designed by SmithGroup. The art installation is a winner in Category Three, which recognizes projects that measure under 5,000 sq ft (464 sq m)
Alan Karchmer
Society's Cage was installed on Washington's National Mall in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. It was created in a bid to urge society to address institutional racism and white supremacy in the USA
Alan Karchmer
Xero Studio was designed by Studio Ma. It's a winner in Category Two, which recognizes projects that cost up to $1.5 million to build
Bill Timmerman
Xero Studio is located in Phoenix, Arizona, and serves as an architecture studio for the architects themselves. It's made from recycled materials and replaces an old dentist office that was on the site. It gets power from solar panels and a water recycling system reduces its water usage
Bill Timmerman
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A tiny house for the homeless, an off-grid bathhouse, and a floating house are just three of the outstanding projects highlighted in this year's American Institute of Architects (AIA) Small Project Awards. Join us as we take a look at one of the most unique and varied architecture competitions around.

Created to raise awareness of the value and design excellence that architects can bring to projects, whatever their size or scope, the AIA Small Project Awards is now in its 18th year.

2021's selection of 11 projects are themselves split into three categories: projects that cost under US$150,000, those that cost up to $1.5 million in construction costs, and, finally, those that measure under 5,000 sq ft (464 sq m) – all of which doesn't actually seem that small, but when it comes to high-profile architecture competitions, it is.

We've chosen a few standout projects that caught our eye below, but head to the gallery to check out more on these and the rest of the projects featured in this year's AIA Small Projects Awards.

Community First! Village Micro House #710 was designed by McKinney York Architects. The tiny house is a winner in Category One, which recognizes projects that cost up to $150,000 to build
Thomas McConnell

The Community First! Village Micro House #710, by McKinney York Architects, is a non-towable tiny house that provides a simple but safe home for a previously homeless person.

Located in Austin, Texas, the project is part of a larger community of tiny houses that are installed to provide shelter and support to the homeless and its design was a collaborative process that involved its future occupant.

Living space has been extended with an attached porch structure that also provides shade, and it has also been oriented to capture the prevailing summer winds. The interior layout is modest but well designed and includes a desk area, double bed, and some storage space.

Casa de Baño is located west of Mexico City and is part of a larger off-grid settlement. It's fed by a rainwater harvesting system and includes a hot bath, sauna, steam shower, and washroom organized around a central cold plunge pool that's open to the sky
Robert Hutchison Architecture/JSa

Casa de Baño, by Robert Hutchison Architecture and JSa Arquitectura, is located near Mexico City and is part of a larger off-grid retreat in a nature reserve that has achieved full water autonomy for a community of 80 people using a complex water collection system that features 16 interconnected reservoirs.

The bathhouse's circular wooden form supports a hot bath, sauna, steam shower, and washroom, which are organized around a central cold plunge pool that's open to the sky.

Captured rainwater is channeled into the cold plunge pool, from where it eventually drains into a nearby reservoir and below-ground treatment system. It's then eventually fed back into the steam shower and hot bath to ensure that no drop of water is wasted.

Portage Bay Float Home was designed by Studio DIAA. The project is a winner in Category Two, which recognizes projects that cost up to $1.5 million to build
Kevin Scott

The Portage Bay Float Home, by Studio DIAA, is located in Seattle, Washington, and is part of a community of floating homes on Seattle's Lake Union.

The home, which also featured on AIA's recent Housing Awards, began as a simple renovation but ended up requiring an entire new structure due to its very poor state. It received a new floor, walls, and roof, all of which were erected within the old home's dimensions, ensuring that neighbors' views weren't affected.

The team focused on maximizing light inside and making the most of available space, and the house is also wrapped by a new cedar deck that's accessible from every room, boosting living space further.

Source: AIA

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