State AIA Recognizes Fay Jones School Faculty, Students and Alumni

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The Creative Corridor: A Main Street Revitalization for Little Rock, designed by Marlon Blackwell Architect and the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, won a Citation Award from the Arkansas chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Faculty, students and alumni of the Fay Jones School of Architecture were recognized with awards recently handed out by the Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Design awards and other awards were given during the annual AIA Arkansas State Convention, held Oct. 10-12 in Rogers. Fay Jones School faculty, students and alumni won all eight design awards given – three honor awards, four merit awards and one citation award.

The Porch House Prefabrication, the design/build home done by the Fay Jones School’s design/build program during the 2009-10 school year, won a Merit Award. The project addresses issues of sustainable design and affordability in the context of urban, inner-city America. Influenced by vernacular traditions and a specific cultural landscape, the project seeks to create delight out of a small-scale design opportunity. The school partnered with the Downtown Little Rock Community Development Corp. for this project.

The project team included Fay Jones School faculty members, as well as then-students Lianne Collier, Jack Doherty, Kevin Hayre, Kelly Jackson, Nick Walker, Brad West, Ryan Wojcicki, Ben Bendall, Elizabeth Beall, Stephanie Foster, James Swann, Addison Bliss, Jerome Tomlin, Josh Matthews, Chase Pitner, Enrique Colcha, Long Dinh, Eric Hobbs, Cesar Larrain, Michael Lyons and William Masino.

The Creative Corridor: A Main Street Revitalization for Little Rock, designed by Marlon Blackwell Architect and the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, won a Citation Award. The center is an outreach program of the Fay Jones School. The Creative Corridor project retrofits a four-block segment of Little Rock’s endangered downtown Main Street through economic development catalyzed by the cultural arts.

The project team included Steve Luoni, Jeff Huber, Cory Amos, Benjamin Curtin, Akihiro Moriya and Linda Komlos, all with the Community Design Center, and Marlon Blackwell, Meryati Johari Blackwell, Jonathan Boelkins, William Burks, Stephen Reyenga, Heather McArthur, all with Marlon Blackwell Architect. Amos, Curtin, Moriya, Boelkins and Burks are all Fay Jones School alumni. Luoni is a Distinguished Professor in the school. Blackwell, a fellow of the AIA, is also a Distinguished Professor and head of the school’s architecture department.

The Fayetteville Montessori Elementary School, by Marlon Blackwell Architect, won an Honor Award. The elementary school, which sits in the small triangular remainder of a site that is prone to flooding, includes classrooms, a conference room and a new commercial kitchen. The project team included Marlon Blackwell and Meryati Johari Blackwell.

The Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center, by Marlon Blackwell Architect, won a Merit Award. The health center urgently needed a new home to house its medical and dental clinics, a facility that brings dignity to the underserved. The project team included Marlon Blackwell, Meryati Johari Blackwell, William Burks, Bradford Payne, Stephen Reyenga, Justin Hershberger and Heather McArthur.

Vetro 1925, by deMx architecture, won a Merit Award. Influenced by Italian architectural precedents, Vetro 1925 is a modern Italian restaurant built within, and respecting, an 88-year-old historic building off the Fayetteville square. The project team included Timothy Maddox, Mitch Woods, Kara Pegg McElyea and Anne Huynh – all school alumni – and Brian Robinson, a current student at the school.

The Eureka Springs High School, by Morrison Architecture, won a Merit Award. This modern, high-performance, 88,000-square-foot multi-level high school is influenced by the site’s natural characteristics, celebrating education and community use while utilizing sustainable building materials and methods in a fun, economical and inspiring way. The project team included Charles Morrison and Laura Doty Morrison, both Fay Jones School alumni.

Two projects based in Little Rock, designed by Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects, won Honor Awards. The first project, Central Arkansas Library System’s Children’s Library, is a new children’s library and learning center based on experiential learning, where children are educated through hands-on activities that teach life skills needed to become responsible adults. The project team included Mandy Breckenridge, Dustin Davis, Reese Rowland, Joe Stanley – all school alumni – and Ed Sergeant, Laura Stanley and Jim Thacker.

The second project, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Student Services Center, is a new academic center that consolidates campus administration and enrollment services and becomes a landmark getaway to campus. The project team included Wesley Walls, David Porter and J.B. Mullins – all Fay Jones School alumni.

In addition, James Meyer, project designer at WER Architects in Little Rock, received the 2013 Emerging Professional Award at the ceremony. He is a 2006 graduate of the Fay Jones School. Upon his graduation, Meyer was the first and only Arkansas student awarded a prestigious traveling fellowship from the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Foundation as part of their annual portfolio competition. Working with StudioMain, a community outreach and design center in Little Rock, he has played a big role in the PopUp Main Street event and the Envision Little Rock Competition. He is also developing a program to get design-based learning into local classrooms. Meyer is a founding member of StudioMain, a board member of the Architecture and Design Network, the associate director of the Arkansas Chapter of the AIA and the rising regional associate director for the Gulf States Region of the AIA.

June Biber Freeman received an Award of Merit at the ceremony. She was instrumental in establishing the Little Firehouse Community Arts Center, Pine Bluff’s first arts center. As its director, she invited Fay Jones to show a selection of his drawings in the center’s gallery. She is  the current director of the Architecture and Design Network, and oversees a series of free, public lectures by architects and design professionals. Now in its 10th season, the program she conceived and has run as a volunteer is supported in part by the Central Arkansas Chapter of the AIA, the Fay Jones School and the Arkansas Arts Center. Freeman is also an honorary member of the Dean’s Circle at the Fay Jones School.