RDAA WINNERS Archives - Residential Design

Time Is Running Out to Enter: The 2025 RD Architecture Awards

S. Claire Conroy — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 19:34:00 +0000

The RD Architecture Awards recognize excellence in custom residential architectural design.

This is a different kind of awards competition that covers the breadth and scope of work by talented residential architects and architectural designers. We understand that contemporary and contextual projects are sometimes difficult to judge against each other. We have, therefore, created two different paths of entry. In addition to categories based on location and scope of design, we’ve created categories specifically for contextual, vernacular, or traditional work to encourage submission of these projects to the program and to the magazine. Modern work will be judged against modern work; traditional work against traditional work.

This is not a web-only awards program.

All winning projects will be published in the print edition of Residential Design magazine distributed at the AIA Conference on Architecture, and published in the digital edition of the magazine and on RD’s website.

All entries will be judged by an independent jury of architects.

Online coverage of our previous program, 2024 RDAA can be viewed here. And a digital facsimile of the print edition coverage can be seen here.

Click here to go directly to our awards registration site and view requirements.

The regular deadline to register your entry is January 16, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. CT.

The late deadline ($50 late fee required) to register your entry is January 23, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. CT.

The Final deadline to submit all entry materials is February 6, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. CT.

Eligibility

All entries must be submitted by or on behalf of an architect or architectural designer.

The competition is open to residential projects within or outside the United States of America.

Projects completed on or after January 1, 2020, are eligible for entry.

Projects may be entered in multiple categories, if they conform to the category criteria.

Projects that have appeared previously in Residential Design or have won awards in other competitions may be entered if they meet all other eligibility criteria.

All entered projects must be professionally photographed at the time of submission (On the Boards projects are the exception).

To receive an award, all winning entrants must complete a detailed products specification form prior to the print publication deadline.

Special note: This a residential design excellence program that welcomes all styles of architecture. We do recognize that traditional projects and contemporary projects are sometimes difficult to judge against each other. We have therefore created categories specifically for contextual or vernacular work to encourage submission of traditional projects to the program and to the magazine.

However, we invite firms to enter projects where they feel they can best compete, and we will give jurors broad discretion to move them where their strengths can shine. Both modern and traditional work will be considered for the top honor of Project of the Year, and jurors will be given discretion to select one modern work and one traditional work for Project of the Year, if they so choose.

Fees and Deadlines

$150 per standard entry

$125 per special entry

The regular deadline to register your entry is January 16, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. CT.

The late deadline ($50 late fee required) to register your entry is January 23, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. CT.

The Final deadline to submit all entry materials is February 6, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. CT.

Residential Standard Entry Categories

$150 each entry

1. Custom Urban House

Houses located in cities, close-in suburbs, or towns. These houses respond to context in an inventive, expansive way, while balancing the need for privacy and connection to city life.

1. Custom Rural or Vacation House

Houses unburdened by existing context and/or by the programmatic constraints of a primary dwelling, and that mine the unique benefits of their scenic locations.

1. Custom Period or Vernacular House

Houses that respond directly and sensitively to existing architectural context, building conventions, or tenets of traditional and classical design. These projects are welcome in the Urban and Rural house categories as well.

1. Renovation

Substantial additions or alterations to an existing home; also, whole-house remodels.

1. Custom Period or Vernacular Renovation/Restoration/Preservation

Substantial additions and alterations to or restoration/preservation of an existing home where the goal is to honor, replicate, and/or enhance the original style. These projects are also welcome in the Renovation category.

Residential Special Project Categories

$125 each entry

1. Architectural Interiors

Whole-house interiors and apartment interiors, or outstanding special rooms, such as wine rooms, kitchens, baths, game rooms, offices, mudrooms, and the like.

1. Architectural Details

Significant custom-designed and crafted details or focal points of the house. Custom fireplaces, staircases, ceiling details, scuppers, window seats are some examples.

1. Custom Outdoor Living Design

Projects that extend living, dining, or cooking areas beyond the interior of the home and integrate indoor/outdoor spaces.

1. Custom Accessory or Outbuilding

Detached guest houses, studios, garages, pool houses, boat houses, architectural follies are some examples.

1. Residential Special Constraints/Conditions

Single-family and low-rise multifamily dwellings (under 5 stories) built to rigorous sustainable standards programs, stringent architectural review, or pattern book; adaptive reuse to residential; mixed-use that includes residential; universal design; affordable, extraordinary budget or size constraints, residential pro-bono projects; prototype dwellings or projects that employ and explore special construction technologies.

1. Custom On the Boards

Unbuilt single-family residential projects of any scale and style, commissioned by a client. These projects should be fully conceived and clearly presented with compelling visuals.

Residential Design Project of the Year

The jury will choose an overall project of the year from among the built project entries.

Both modern and traditional work will be considered for the top honor of Project of the Year, and jurors will be given discretion to select one modern work and one traditional work for Project of the Year, if they so choose.

About the Jury Process

All entries will be judged by an independent jury of architects selected for geographic and aesthetic diversity.

The jury will be given broad discretion to move projects to different categories. The jurors may also combine categories or create new ones to better showcase award-worthy entries. Further, they may give more than one or no awards in each category, if they so choose. The judging will take place in mid-February, and winning projects will be published in Volume 3, 2025 of Residential Design magazine and on this website.

MORE DETAILS & REGISTRATION

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2024 RDAA | Residential Special Constraints | Redivivus | Robert M. Cain, Architect

Caroline Hetzel — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 19:07:58 +0000

Robert M. Cain’s firm has a history of saving endangered buildings. And this is one of its most successful rescues so far. The small midcentury apartment building was on the brink of demolition when project architect Carmen Stan, AIA, ran across it while walking her dog.

“It had been on the market for years, and under contract by a number of developers who could not satisfy the parking requirement,” says Bob. He was intrigued by the possibilities of the building, which dead ends in Piedmont Park, Atlanta’s stellar Olmstead-designed urban oasis, but the clock was ticking.

“It was scheduled for demolition in 30 days by the city,” he recalls. “We had to scramble to stabilize the building enough to make the case for renovation. The city is dealing with all these condemned buildings, and they just want to tear them down.”

Although developers before him had failed, Bob had an ace up his sleeve—knowledge of an obscure city ordinance allowing pre-1965 buildings to forgo parking. What that meant, though, was compliant parking, because ultimately the firm was able to squeeze in three tight spaces. Those spaces now serve the firm’s new offices on the ground level and two rental apartments above.

Salvaged and recycled materials, PV panels, a high-performance retrofit substantially beyond code, and a restorative garden of native plants ensure a bright future for this human-scale project. Said our judges, “They really made something special out of what would have been a teardown.”

Citation

Residential Special Constraints

Robert M. Cain, Architect

Redivivus

Atlanta

Project Credits

Architect/Interior Designer: Robert M. Cain, FAIA, principal; Carmen Stan, AIA, project architect, Robert M. Cain, Architect, Atlanta

Builder: Jeff Meadows, Biltmore Construction Management, Smyrna, Georgia

Landscape Architect: Georgia Hill, LEED Green Associate, Beautyberry Gardens, Decatur, Georgia

Structural Engineer: Kelly Allbright, PE, PEC Structural Engineering, Decatur

Project Size: 4,098 square feet

Site Size: 0.10 acre

Construction Cost: $155 per square foot

Photography: Frederik Brauer

Key Products

Appliances: Summit, Bosch, LG (living units); Sub-Zero under-counter (office)

Cabinetry Hardware: Häfele; Emtek

Entry Doors/Door hardware: Rixson pivot hardware; LINNEA; Pella

Fasteners: Simpson Strong-Tie

Faucets: Grohe; Kohler

Flooring: Eutree

Garage Doors: Overhead Door Co.

HVAC: Daikin Mini-splits (office); Carrier (living units)

Insulation: Icynene

Paints: Sherwin-Williams

Roofing: GAF PVC membrane

Shading: Lutron roller shades

Sinks: Kohler; Duravit

Toilets: Duravit

Windows: Pella

The post 2024 RDAA | Residential Special Constraints | Redivivus | Robert M. Cain, Architect appeared first on Residential Design.

2024 RDAA | Custom on the Boards | Valley Estate | Anacapa Architecture

Caroline Hetzel — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 19:04:38 +0000

Valley House’s linearity and vertical layering was inspired by several Richard Serra sculptures owned by the clients, who are big art collectors. “We wanted the walls to be rooted in the landscape and even be conveyed as somewhat of a ruin, as if it’s been there a long time,” says Tony Schonhardt, AIA, director of design. Staggered diagonally across the 2-acre plot, they align with the natural topography that gently slopes from northwest to southeast, allowing the landscape to meander through and around the structures. The self-finishing rammed earth walls define four volumes—main house, guest house, garage, and pool cabana—and eliminate the need for a second decorative layer. “The height of the walls is dictated by what is structurally required to support those very simple roof elements,” he says.

A spare palette prevails: Interior partitions are wood with metal accents. Stone flooring continues out to the landscape, and the wood roof planes cover both interior and exterior spaces, strengthening connections between inside and out. “Every space offers the opportunity to engage with the natural world visually and physically through greenery or water moving around,” Tony says. “It creates a language whereby we are inviting the user to sit outside as much as inside.”

“This looks like a modern Bauhaus,” a judge said. “It’s a great rendering.”

Citation

Custom on the Boards

Anacapa Architecture

Valley Estate

Montecito, California

Project Credits

Architect: Dan Weber, AIA, principal in charge; Tony Schonhardt, AIA, design director; Lila Boyce, project manager; Anacapa Architecture, Santa Barbara, California

Builder: Hill Construction, Los Angeles

Interior designer: Lila Boyce, senior interior designer; Nicole Robinson, Tete Ramirez, Anacapa Architecture

Landscape architect: Ground Studio, Santa Barbara

Project size: 8,830 square feet

Site size: 2 acres

Photography: Nick Kvistad (models), Places Studio (renderings)

Key Products

Entry doors: FritsJurgens hardware

Fireplace: Isokern

Windows: OTIIMA

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2024 RDAA | Architectural Details | Dunelands | dSPACE Studio

Caroline Hetzel — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 18:58:29 +0000

One of the chief talents good architects have is the almost miraculous ability to conquer the “unbuildable sites.” This scenic property overlooking Lake Michigan had languished for some time, caught between its physical and code constraints and potential buyers’ programmatic needs.

“It’s a protected national dune, and there was just one spot to put the house,” says Kevin Toukoumidis. “We were left with a very small footprint—on top of a flat dune where one side drops down 60 feet to the lake.”

The entry side of the house is also a popular walking area for the neighborhood, presenting a privacy challenge for the clients, who wanted a very transparent, glass-filled house. What’s more, says the architect, “the winds are very intense in this microclimate—sometimes reaching gale force.”

The firm’s solution to the client’s desire for prospect and refuge is a front courtyard and a series of clever Cor-Ten steel panels that open and close manually. “They rotate very easily a full 360 degrees, but you can lock them in place with throw bolts,” notes Kevin. “It’s a cloistered experience when closed, and they’re sculptural elements when open. Or they can rotate to focus on or frame nature.”

Said one judge, “This detail is so nice—so well done and well presented. The level of documentation they provided with the entry is so important in this category.”

Citation

Architectural Details

dSPACE Studio

Dunelands

Saugatuck, Michigan

Project Credits

Architect/Interior Design/Landscape Architect: Kevin Toukoumidis, AIA, principal in charge; Jordan Snittjer, project architect, dSPACE Studio, Chicago

Builder: Matt Bruursema, Tony Zahn, Zahn Builders, Holland, Michigan

Steel Fabricator: Bob Harmsen, Harmsen Steel, Zeeland, Michigan

Site Size: 4 acres

Construction Cost: Withheld

Photography: Ty Cole

Key Products

Cladding: StoSignature stucco

Entry Doors/Windows/Window Systems: Panoramah!

Exterior Lighting: Flos, SPJ Lighting

Fire Pit: Paloform

Outdoor Appliances: Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet

Shading: Dizal louvers

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2024 RDAA | Custom Outdoor Living Design | Pivoting | Mode4 Architecture

Caroline Hetzel — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 17:19:02 +0000

As we move ahead in the post-pandemic years, we’re starting to see how design thinking and client programs shifted as a result of new priorities. It was an awakening of sorts that drove even owners of primary residences—not just vacation homes in scenic locales—to give greater consideration to the areas outside their houses. That’s what happened on Mode4 Architecture’s citation winner—a remodel of an original house by architect Robert M. Gurney, FAIA—and it actually happened mid-design.

“Pivoting refers to the doors on this addition and remodel, but it was also a response to the pandemic and how we use outdoor spaces,” explains architect Christopher Tucker, AIA. “We had to stop and pivot in a different direction on this project. At first, we had designed a more interior space.”

Ultimately, the scope was expanded into a retrofit of an attached garage and its adjacent gravel parking pad into a dining room that opens onto a courtyard garden and entertaining space. A new garage, studio space, and carport were also added, with the carport flexing as an event pavilion. Those pivot doors open the carport to the courtyard or stay closed to conceal the cars within.

Said our judges, “It creates this wonderful courtyard out of this liminal space and pulls all of these other spaces into it with a level of porosity that’s very well done. It’s all about the leftover space and how they captured that.”

Citation

Custom Outdoor Living Design

Mode4 Architecture

Pivoting

Bethesda, Maryland

Project Credits

Architect: Christopher Tucker, AIA, Mode4 Architecture, Alexandria, Virginia

Builder: Steve Howard, Square One Development, Hagerstown, Maryland

Landscape Architect: SPD Landscape Studio, Silver Spring, Maryland

Project Size: 5,000 square feet

Site Size: 0.66 acre

Construction Cost: $600 per square foot

Photography: Anice Hoachlander

Key Products

Garage Doors: Clopay

Pivot Doors: Mahogany and steel, custom design by Christopher Tucker and Kenneth Lopez, Mode4

Pivot Door Hinges: FritsJurgens

Window/Window Wall Systems: Western Window Systems

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2024 RDAA | Custom Outdoor Living Design | The Roost | Furman + Keil

Caroline Hetzel — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 17:17:27 +0000

Our judges called The Roost “a beautiful pavilion.” Located at the bend of a tributary of Lake Austin, it replaces a moldering boathouse that contained an illegal apartment. The waterway, which is often stagnant, swells during periodic downpours and floods its banks, along with anything else nearby, until the Lake Austin dam is opened. Stormwater sweeps debris along its path, depositing a good deal of it right at this bend. The clients came to Furman + Keil for a replacement structure that would remediate the natural water flow issues and provide them with an elevated platform for lounging and birdwatching.

As a protected wetlands, the construction challenges onsite were myriad. “We had to bring everything in on a 15-foot flat bottom boat, and the demo material had to go out that way as well,” says principal Troy Miller. The team salvaged most of the existing steel piles and lifted the new structure above the flood plain. A storage shed below is “designed to flood” because, says Troy, “that’s unavoidable.”

Part screened porch and part aerie, The Roost has lived up to its name, attracting owls who hunt along the waterway. Everyone, it seems, enjoys the shelter it now provides from the hot Texas sun. “Shade is such a privilege here sometimes,” Troy notes. “That’s what the project was doing—creating shade without being closed off to the environment around it.”

Citation

Custom Outdoor Living Design

Furman + Keil

The Roost

Austin, Texas

Project Credits

Architect: Troy Miller; Phillip Keil; Gary Furman; Maanasa Nathan; Dawson Williams, Furman + Keil, Austin, Texas

Builder: Crowell Builders, Austin

Landscape Architect: Word + Carr Design Group, Austin

Lighting Design: Studio Lumina, Austin

Project Size: 880 square feet

Site Size: 0.80 acre

Construction Cost: Withheld

Photography: Leonid Furmansky

Key Products

Ceiling Fans: Modern Fan. Co.

Cladding/Decking: Ipe

Flooring/Roofing: Douglas fir

Door Hardware: Baldwin

Lighting Control: Lutron

Paints/Stains: Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams

Pavers: Lueders limestone

Refrigerator: Summit

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2024 RDAA | Architectural Interiors | Hillview Cove | Studio AR&D Architects

Caroline Hetzel — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 17:13:18 +0000

Every interior decision at Hillview Cove was made in service to a calming environment. The architects interpreted that client request with just a few visually striking materials and cutaways that wash them with light. The exterior’s board-formed recycled concrete walls continue inside, softened by deeply colored woods. A continuous skylight in the entry exposes the concrete wall’s organic surface. In contrast to its light tones, the home’s walls, casework, and kitchen cabinets are lined with teak-veneer panels, and lightly charred Douglas fir covers the ceilings. Likewise, gang-sawed, CNC-milled granite creates a moody backdrop in the primary bath. “The details were about wanting to have less fussiness, at least in their appearance. Just calm and simple and clean,” says Sean Lockyer, AIA. Bronze detailing is threaded throughout—on fireplaces and in the primary bath’s quirk joint reveals. Poured terrazzo floors tie everything together.

Landscape connections occur in every room. Glass panels frame intimate pockets of greenery outside the office and the primary bedroom and bath, and the great room’s retractable glass wall opens to the pool terrace. “The pool is an inch and a quarter higher than the hardscape and has an infinity trough on all four sides,” Sean says. “The idea was to make it look like a black mirror, a piece of art in the yard.”

Our jury members praised the “continuity from exterior to interior,” calling it “a handsome project overall.”

Citation

Architectural Interiors

Studio AR&D Architects

Hillview Cove

Palm Springs, California

Project Credits

Architect: Sean Lockyer, AIA, Studio AR&D Architects, Los Angeles

Builder: Mark Hahn, Qualcon, Rancho Mirage, California

Interior designer: Sam Cardella, Cardella Design, Palm Springs, California

Landscape architect: Marcello Villano, Palm Springs

Project size: 7,200 square feet

Site size: 0.50 acre

Construction cost: $700 per square foot

Photography: Lance Gerber

Key Products

Dishwasher: Miele

Exhaust fans: Fantech

HVAC trimless registers: Titus FlowBar

HVAC system: Trane

Faucets: Watermark, Brizo, Blanco

Fireplace: Stellar Hearth Products

Garbage disposal: InSinkErator

Lighting control system: Lutron

Outdoor grill: Fire Magic by RH Peterson

Ovens: Miele

Refrigerator: Sub-Zero

Showerheads: JACLO

Sinks/Soap Dispenser: Blanco

Toilets: Geberit

Undercounter refrigerator: Sub-Zero

Washer/dryer: Maytag

Water heater: Rheem

Wine refrigerator: Wine Guardian

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2024 RDAA | Architectural Interiors | The Overlook | Whitten Architects

Caroline Hetzel — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 17:11:58 +0000

In the best retreat house tradition, the Overlook creates a place of refuge after the owners have been outside—in this case skiing, hiking, and biking. While its hard shell withstands the cold alpine climate, “the interior is softer, even sculptural, more about resting and regenerating,” says Tom Lane, AIA. With an emphasis on all things local, the fireplace hearthstone came from the site and was used as a color reference for the interior finishes and furnishings. Eastern white pine, a Maine commodity, covers the floors, walls, and ceilings, while minimal window trim detailing erodes the division between inside and out. A local craftsman built the walnut kitchen cabinets and the island with fluted wood detailing. The plaster kitchen wall’s purposeful curve draws you into the living area from the top of the steps, a technique used elsewhere as a subtle directional cue. “The interiors are spare but lovely, and the tone-on-tone pops it,” a judge said.

The lower level porte cochère, too, embodies the design’s pronounced sense of shelter. “They can drive the snowmobile right in, offload equipment, and get out of the weather,” says Russ Tyson, AIA. Sliding doors block the winter wind or open to summer breezes. “The homeowners often set themselves up to enjoy the sun there,” adds project designer Drew Bortles. “Two Adirondack chairs live in there at different times.”

Citation

Architectural Interiors

Whitten Architects

The Overlook

Kingfield, Maine

Project Credits

Architect: Whitten Architects, Portland, Maine

Builder: Sebastian Tooker, Sebastian Tooker Construction, Kingfield, Maine

Interior designer: Heidi Lachapelle Interiors, Portland

Landscape architect: Soren Deniord Landscape Studio, Portland

Project size: 6,500 square feet

Site size: 309 acres

Construction cost: Withheld

Photography: Trent Bell Photography

Key Products

Acoustic: ROCKWOOL Safe ’n Sound. ROXUL

Cladding: Eastern white cedar and western red cedar

Cooking vent hood: Zephyr

Dishwasher: Bosch

Entry doors and hardware: Marvin

Faucets: Kallista

HVAC systems: Mitsubishi

Lighting: Allied Maker, Worley’s Lighting, Workstead

Lighting control systems: Lutron HomeWorks

Paints/stains/coatings: Valhalla LifeTime wood treatment, Watco

Radiant heating: Veissman

Range: Wolf

Refrigerator: Liebherr

Sinks: Kraus, Kallista, Kast

Toilets: TOTO

Towel heaters: Rejuvenation

Tubs: Kohler

Washer/dryer: LG

Windows: Marvin

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2024 RDAA | Renovation | Five Yard House | Miró Rivera Architects

Caroline Hetzel — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 18:48:19 +0000

This historic neighborhood in downtown Austin comprises some of the oldest houses in the area. However, the city’s rapid growth has put them under constant threat. Miró Rivera wants to save as many as possible, which often means convincing wary clients they can still get the fresh, functional houses they seek.

“A hundred years old in Austin is like the Pantheon in Rome,” says Miguel Rivera, FAIA. “We are always fighting people who want to demo an old house to build something new. Why not just build a modern addition?”

That’s what Miguel did for his own house, one these clients had tried to buy from him. Instead, they searched for a similar opportunity nearby and lucked into a derelict bungalow on a rare 60-foot-wide, 220-foot-deep lot.

As with most clients, Miguel’s had a long wish list for their new home. But achieving the openness and flow they wanted meant paring the program. “They wanted all this square footage and a second floor with a gym. I told them, just go join a gym.”

The trick to delivering that feeling of openness was a “Japanese approach of borrowed landscape,” says Miguel, who restored the bungalow and connected it via a new bridge piece to an addition that wraps around a courtyard.

There are four other outdoor areas connecting to the new plan, each augmenting the sense of spaciousness inside the house and providing a different experience outside. Said one judge, “I’m a sucker for a good site plan and they really maximized the potential of that site.”

Citation

Renovation

Miró Rivera Architects

Five Yard House

Austin, Texas

Project Credits

Architect: Juan Miró, FAIA; Miguel Rivera, FAIA; Ken Jones, AIA; Carlos Garcia, RA; Bud Franck, AIA; Nate Schneider, RA, Miró Rivera Architects, Austin, Texas

Builder: J. Pinnelli Company, Austin

Interior furnishings: Rachel Mast Design, Austin

Landscape Architect: Ten Eyck, Austin

Project Size: 5,512 square feet

Site Size: 0.30 acre

Construction cost: Withheld

Photography: Paul Finkel | Piston Design

Key Products

Aluminum Doors/Frames: Reynaers

Appliances: GE, Miele, Sub-Zero, InSinkErator, Whirlpool

Cabinet/Door Hardware: Ashley Norton, LINNEA, Accurate, Baldwin, Emtek, Sugatsune

Fixtures/Faucets: American Standard, Lacava, Rohl, Zen Bathworks, Kohler, Brizo

Paints: Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams

Roofing: Owens Corning

Tile: Ann Sacks, Interceramic, Porcelanosa

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2024 RDAA | Custom Accessory or Outbuilding | Henry Island Guest House | Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Caroline Hetzel — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 18:46:04 +0000

“It’s very cleanly laid out, designed, and detailed. There isn’t a bad side to it,” a jury member said of this remote guest house in the San Juan Islands. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson had designed the main house more than 10 years ago. Now the new owners were calling back to request a two-bedroom guest house where family and friends could enjoy extended stays.

“There was a desire on the part of the owners to have it be a self-sufficient guest house, but they intended for meals and activities to be centered on the main house,” says Ray Calabro, FAIA. “We considered how to do just enough that it felt very comfortable but not draw energy away from gathering in the main residence.” Arrival is by boat, and they positioned it along a trail that leads from a common boat dock up through a forest, then turns back to a meadow that faces the bay. The low, linear building stretches from the forest to the meadow, “straddling those two worlds,” Ray says. Two bedrooms lie at opposite ends of the house, separated by a central seating area. On the gently sloping site, one bedroom is close to the earth, spilling out to a deck that gazes into the forest. The other bedroom sits above grade on slender columns, its raised deck facing the water view. “One speaks more to shelter, the other to prospect over the site,” Ray says.

Our jury applauded the “wonderful layering of the exoskeleton” and sophisticated detailing. The design intentionally suppresses the boundaries between inside and out. Steel beams and posts are exposed within the glassy building envelope, and in one of the bedrooms a glass wall system steps over a low, board-formed-concrete seating ledge that continues out to the patio. Large lift/slide glass doors open the center section completely so that it reads like a porch. Dark-stained western red cedar cladding moves from outside to inside, and Douglas fir ceiling beams create a pleasing rhythm across the long façades. Even the weathered steel panels extend into each bedroom, becoming an oversized headboard. The layering of wood over steel echoes that of the main house and provides a visual link when viewed from the meadow.

As the architects learned from building the original house, the lack of ferry service to Henry Island informed the material choices, prioritizing prefab items. “The steel, glulam timbers, and metal siding were fabricated in Seattle and brought to a neighboring island, and then over to Henry Island in small quantities as we needed them,” Ray says. “The general contractor, Chris Huggins, was a mastermind of all the logistics and was just exceptional.”

That’s evident in the result. “It’s a beautiful concept, wonderfully detailed,” a judge said.

Honor Award

Custom Accessory or Outbuilding

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Henry Island Guest House

Henry Island, Washington

Project Credits

Architect/Interior designer: Ray Calabro, FAIA, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Seattle

Builder: Chris Huggins, Hoxie Huggins Construction, Seattle

Landscape architect: Allworth Design, Seattle

Structural engineer: PCS Structural Solutions, Seattle

Project size: 1,350 square feet

Site size: 5.09 acres

Construction cost: Withheld

Photography: Aaron Leitz, Benjamin Benschneider

Key Products

Cabinetry: Custom
Douglas fir

Cabinetry hardware: Blum Blumotion

Cladding: Weathering steel

Countertops: PentalQuartz

Dishwasher: Bosch undercounter

Engineered lumber: Spearhead

Entry doors and hardware: Quantum Windows and Doors

Faucets: KWC, Hansgrohe

Fireplace: Stüv

Flooring: West Valley Hardwood white oak

Foundation: Concrete

Insulation: ROCKWOOL ROXUL

Lighting: Eaton, Element

Refrigerator: Perlick undercounter

Roof system: Custom Steel Fabricators

Roofing: NuRay standing seam metal

Sinks: Julien, Kohler, Infinity Drain

Surfacing: Heath Ceramics

Toilets: TOTO

Wallboard: ACX fir plywood panels

Washer/dryer: Asko stackable

Window wall systems/Windows: Quantum Windows and Doors

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