Kirksey Wins AIA Houston Design Award for Structural Detail in San Jacinto College Project
HOUSTON, TEXAS — Kirksey is proud to announce that they are a recipient of a 2020 AIA Houston Design Award. Their newly completed San Jacinto College Engineering and Technology Building was recognized in the Divine Detail category for its structurally-innovative concrete Y-columns. Out of 125 overall entries, 19 projects were selected for awards recognition this year—three of which being Divine Detail recipients.
This year’s awards program was held virtually with three nationally-recognized architects and designers serving as jurors—Annie Chu, FAIA, IIDA of Chu + Gooding Architects in Los Angeles, Ned Cramer, Assoc. AIA, Editor-In-Chief of Architect Magazine in Washington, DC, and Elaine Molinar, AIA, Partner, Managing Director - The Americas of Snøhetta in New York.
Chu weighed in on the reasoning behind the San Jacinto College Divine Detail award, stating that, “these expressive concrete columns are like the holy grail of architectural elements…they perform as a symbol, almost a logo of the purpose of the building because of the engineering and they offer a biomorphic kind of visual delight, right? The curvature juxtaposed against the hard, recta-linear character of the building. These bifurcating columns are certainly the divine detail that distinguish this project.”
Kirksey designer Michelle Old explains, “These concrete Y-columns were studied through a series of generative designs which sought the optimization of space, visibility, and structure, resulting in a bold statement for the building.”
Click here to view Kirksey’s winning entry.
The AIA Houston Design Awards program recognizes design excellence in architecture, residential architecture, interior architecture, restoration/renovation, and urban design. Criteria to be used by the jury include quality of design, resolution of the program idea, sustainable responsibility, innovation, thoughtfulness, and technique.