Eleven Projects Recognized in Fay Jones School's 2019 Alumni Design Awards Competition
The Evans Tree House at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, designed by Modus Studio, won an Honor Award in the 2019 Fay Jones Alumni Design Awards competition.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas honored the innovative work of its alumni with alumni design awards during the school's Winter Fest Dinner and Recognition Ceremony, held Dec. 12 at the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House on the university campus. During the evening, Golden Graduates and Awards for Distinction recipients also were recognized.
Designs for residential, hospitality, retail, office, commercial, governmental, industrial, educational, religious, medical, historic, cultural, tourism and mixed-use spaces, as well as furniture and urban planning, were among 37 projects vying for recognition in this year's Fay Jones Alumni Design Awards competition. Entries came from Fay Jones School alumni practicing in cities around the state of Arkansas, as well as in Missouri, Georgia, California, Oklahoma, Montana, Illinois, Texas, Tennessee and China. A seven-member jury chose 11 projects for accolades — resulting in one Honor Award, six Merit Awards and four Honorable Mentions.
Andrea P. Leers, FAIA, principal at Leers Weinzapfel Associates in Boston, Massachusetts, served as external jury member. John Folan, professor and head of the Department of Architecture in the Fay Jones School, served as jury chair for the design awards competition. Fellow jury members included three other school faculty, Kimberley Furlong, assistant professor in interior design, Jake Tucci, assistant professor in interior design, and Gabriel Diaz Montemayor, assistant professor in landscape architecture. Additional jury members were Caity Malloy, project coordinator at Core Architects in Rogers, and Calli Verkamp, project architect at Wheeler Kearns Architects in Chicago; both are Fay Jones School alumnae.
Chris Baribeau (B.Arch. '03), Josh Siebert (B.Arch. '02), Suzana Annable (B.Arch. '12), Philip Rusk (B.Arch. '03), Jody Verser (B.Arch. '10) and Ken Hiley (B.Arch. '14) won an Honor Award for the Evans Tree House at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs. The design team is with Modus Studio in Fayetteville. The design offers an interactive educational experience for children that is part of an ambitious plan to bring children back into the woods. The underlying theme of dendrology - the study of trees and wooded plants - drives both the form and program of the structure. The 113 ribs of thermalized, Arkansas-sourced southern yellow pine create an evocative, semi-transparent form that focuses attention on the natural wonders of the forest canopy.
"Extraordinary at every level; evocative, engaging and technically experimental," the jury said. "The project delicately balances the relationship of interior and exterior realms through the creation of a diaphanous boundary that can be perceived as the skeleton of an organism, an extension of the woodlands, or something entirely left to the imagination of a child. Very much wedded to its site and establishes a new understanding of place."
Chris Baribeau (B.Arch. '03), Cory Amos (B.Arch. '09), Michael Pope (B.Arch. '10), Philip Rusk (B.Arch. '03), Graham Patterson (B.Arch. '11), Jody Verser (B.Arch. '10), Matt Poe (B.Arch. '12) and Hannah Breshears (B.Arch. '13) won a Merit Award for the Uptown Apartments and Shops in Fayetteville. The design team is with Modus Studio in Fayetteville. This mixed-use project creates a decisively new living model by utilizing the most basic and abundant suburban multifamily building block — the garden style walk-up apartment — to craft a series of neighborhood-scaled spaces within the 15-acre site.
"A highly innovative and intelligent urban design strategy that demonstrates the use of familiar housing models in a new form to create a compelling community," the jury said.
Bradley Edwards (B.Arch. '93) and Laurence McMahon (B.Arch. '13) won a Merit Award for the TFR Residence in Springdale. Edwards and McMahon are with Bradley Edwards Architect in Fayetteville. This modern single-family house is located on the site of an abandoned trout farm on 5 acres. The design features a clear formal language, elemental material palette and large spatial and formal moves dictated by relative proportion.
The jury "valued the formal and material simplicity of this residence, while still articulating a compelling spatial armature and contemporary design. The employment of the house as a grade change device and the overall result is harmonious."
Chris Baribeau (B.Arch. '03), Josh Siebert (B.Arch. '02), Matt Poe (B.Arch. '12) and David McElyea (B.Arch. '06) won a Merit Award for MAIN X MDRN in Bentonville. The design team is with Modus Studio in Fayetteville. The project is a rejuvenated model of city building, setting a standard for urban development that encompasses specific work space with speculative office options, all crafted in a timeless palette and with classic form-making.
"This project commands a confident urban presence beyond its time, aspiring to a day when it is surrounded by peers engaging a vibrant public street life. Deeply incised 'apertures' provide framed views of the developing city center from the inside, while revealing light and inhabitation within the building," the jury said.
Reese Rowland (B.Arch. '90), Amanda Sturgell (B.Arch. '09), Morgan Holmes (B.I.D. '10) and David Rogers (B.Arch. '91) won a Merit Award for the Jacksonport State Park Visitor Center in Jacksonport. The design team is with Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects in Little Rock. This modern visitor center celebrates a historically significant port town, while lifting visitors above a levee to reunite river and town, past and present. Conceived as a modern dog-trot, the design juxtaposes two glass cubes embedded in the earth connected by a bridge.
The jury "found the basic design strategy of reconnecting with the river both conceptually clear and well executed. Of special note is how the project designers were able to synthesize a participatory process and shift the conversation from 'being seen to seeing history.'"
Chris Baribeau (B.Arch. '03), Chris Lankford (B.Arch. '03), Kiara Luers (B.Arch. '16) and Jason Wright (B.Arch. '04) won a Merit Award for Vault in Fayetteville. The design team is with Modus Studio in Fayetteville. This straightforward bar concept draws inspiration from the idea of distillation and is crafted in a raw yet warm palette of concrete, wood, steel and leather. This former bank vault is at once modern and minimal, unpretentious and animated.
"A hard to use found space beautifully developed and crafted. Raw, authentic and articulate use of materials; refined detailing. Clear and distinct design intent that establishes an attractive, strong sense of place where place is ambiguous," the jury said.
Bradley Edwards (B.Arch. '93) and Laurence McMahon (B.Arch. '13) won a Merit Award for Onyx Coffee Lab in Bentonville. Edwards and McMahon are with Bradley Edwards Architect in Fayetteville. The design for this local coffee roaster uses two contrasting spatial elements — a filigree wood chandelier and a 360-degree edgeless tiled bar — to organize the program, circulation and building systems of the 2,300-square-foot downtown space.
"A welcome addition to the town's local square and reminiscent of an old-school drugstore soda fountain, it trades chrome and marble for wood and mosaic tile to create an engaging center for coffee performance theater," the jury said.
Travis Bartlett (B.Arch. '95), Galen Hunter (B.Arch. '83), Michael Lejong (B.Arch. '96), Joey Hamm (B.Arch. '14) and Arlin Vancuren (B.L.A. '83) received an Honorable Mention for the Kimpel Hall Renovations and Additions on the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville campus. The design team is with MAHG Architecture in Fort Smith; Dake Wells Architecture in Springfield, Missouri; and Howell & Vancuren in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Russell Fason (B.Arch. '00), David Sargent (B.Arch. '84) and Jim Henry (B.Arch. '00) received an Honorable Mention for the Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences on the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville campus. The design team is with WER Architects/Planners in Fayetteville.
Nick Kozlowski (B.Arch. '01) received an Honorable Mention for Hotel Napoleon in Memphis, Tennessee. Kozlowski is with UrbanARCH Associates in Memphis.
Leah Hales (B.L.A. '94) received an Honorable Mention for The Dallas Arboretum: A Tasteful Place in Dallas. Hales is with SWA Group in Dallas.
About the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design: The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas houses professional design programs of architecture, landscape architecture and interior design together with liberal studies programs. All of these programs combine studio design education with innovative teaching in history, theory, technology and urban design. A broad range of course offerings equips graduates with the knowledge and critical agility required to meet the challenges of designing for a changing world. Their training prepares students with critical frameworks for design thinking that also equip them to assume leadership roles in the profession and in their communities. The DesignIntelligence 2019 School Rankings Survey listed the school among the most hired from architecture, landscape architecture and interior design schools, ranking 10th, 14th and eighth, respectively, as well as 28th among most admired architecture schools.
About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs.
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Shawnya Lee Meyers, digital media specialist
Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design
479-575-4744,
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Michelle Parks, director of communications
Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design
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