The Alabama Chapter of the International Interior Design Association recently held its biennial IDIE awards, recognizing designers in 10 categories. The event was held in March at the newly renovated Florentine Building in downtown Birmingham. Below are the winners of each category, as well as list the nominees who submitted projects for review.
In addition to the winners, IIDA also honored Jim Griffo, formerly of Gresham, Smith and Partners, with the IIDA Award of Excellence.
Best of Hospitality:
Davis Architects for Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility Players Area Improvements at the University of Alabama. The new two-story Athletic Training Facility provides a seamless transition between player dressing, practice, meeting, training and lounge areas. The building includes a weight room, cardio/rehabilitation area with direct oversight from physicians in the medical office suite, strength coaches’ offices, juice room off the practice field, and exam room off the indoor practice field. Throughout the project, graphics were used to strengthen the brand and message.
Other Nominees:
- HatcherSchuster Interiors: FoodBar
- Ray Harsh Design: Regions Field Club Level Areas
Best of Healthcare:
Birchfield Penuel & Associate for Alabama Pediatric Dentistry. The existing brick‐clad, two‐story structure now houses the clinic on the ground floor and tenant space above. The major challenges of this project, aside from the complete exterior re‐skin, were presented by the low structural bearing height of the space that is now the clinic. The owner, architect and contractor coordinated early in the design process and continued with close communication and strategy throughout construction to foresee and address opportunities for success.
Other Nominees:
- Williams Blackstock Architects: UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Design Innovations: Southern Orthopedic Surgeons
- Gresham, Smith & Partners: HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Western Massachusetts
- Poole & Company Architects: The Ireland Center – Children’s of Alabama (Behavioral Health)
- Birchfield Penuel & Associates: St. Vincent’s East Labor and Delivery Suite
- Cohen Carnaggio Reynold: Skin Wellness Center of Alabama
- Heidi Core Design: Cosmetic and Family Dentistry
- Heidi Core Design: Indian Springs Pediatric Dentistry
Best of Institutional-Large
Turner Batson Architects for Charger Union at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The University of Alabama in Huntsville had a vision to provide a new student center that would provide all the amenities necessary for a fulfilling campus experience designed around the concept of celebrating community. Through vision meetings, Charger Union was developed with inspiration from a strong rocket research history combined with the influences of modern students. Inspired by the brilliance of outer space, the entire floor plan is an abstract version of the solar system and Milky Way, with its program function radiating from a central light-filled atrium, and its floor patterns, furniture layouts and booth designs all reinforcing a dynamic floor plan layout. As a result, Charger Union has become a nucleus where student life activities and services have transformed the campus experience.
Other Nominees:
- Williams Blackstock Architects: University of Alabama – North Campus Student Center at Presidential Village
- KPS Group Inc.: Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport
- Gresham, Smith & Partners: Sidney McDonald Hall – University of Alabama System Office
- Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood Inc.: Park Crossing High School
- Williams Blackstock Architects: Warhawk Hall at Auburn University at Montgomery
- Williams Blackstock Architects: WSCC – Health & Life Sciences
Best of Institutional-Small
Goodwyn Mills and Cawood for the Auburn University Wellness Kitchen. The Auburn University Wellness Kitchen is a modern-concept for healthy, campus dining, offering all-you-care-to-eat and allergy-free options. This revolutionary campus dining concept gives students the opportunity to build their meals and have them prepared at chef stations. Chef stations include indoor and outdoor grills, a deli station, a brick oven pizza, a carving station, a hot line with fresh meats and vegetables, a salad bar, smoothie station and an allergy-free kitchen for students with specific dietary requirements.
Other Nominees:
- Davis Architects Inc.: N.E. Miles Jewish Day School Renovation
- Design Innovations Inc.: UAB Men’s Basketball Locker Room
- Lathan Associates Architects P.C.: Media Center Renovation at Wilsonville Elementary
- Birchfield Penuel & Associates: Child Development Center
Best of Corporate
Cohen Carnaggio Reynolds for Hollis & Wright. By choosing to renovate a historic structure, Hollis and Wright has established a unique home for its law practice. Originally built in 1889, the building served as a food warehouse and is a contributing building to the Morris Avenue First Avenue North Historic District in downtown Birmingham. The challenge of this project was to provide the law practice with all of the requirements of the firm while keeping the open feeling of the warehouse and obtaining historic tax credits. This was accomplished through the use of skylights, glass floor openings, clerestory windows at the top of the corridor walls, and full height glass and steel walls.
Other Nominees:
- Williams Blackstock Architects: Homewood Board of Education – New Central Office
- KPS Group Inc.: Popeyes Corporate HQ
- Ray Harsh Design: Raymond Harbert Private Office Suite (Concord Center)
- Davis Architects Inc.: School of Health Professions Administrative Office & Continuing Education Center at UAB
- HatcherSchuster Interiors: Blue Canoe
- HatcherSchuster Interiors: P&S Transport
- Heidi Core Interior Design: EBS: A Bank Consulting Company
Best of Furniture Installation
Business Interiors for the Business Interiors new showroom and Green Learning Center. The interior construction of the new space is done in products from DIRTT Environmental Solutions. Sweeping floor to ceiling DIRTT walls of glass, wood and chromacoat dominate the landscape to form the private spaces in the showroom. Knoll AutoStrada, Currents, and Dividends work stations with a lowered horizon flank the DIRTT walls in the north area of the showroom to form a combination of open and private workspaces. Meeting and gathering spaces, as well as collaborative areas, are situated and furnished to provide the desired level of openness or privacy. The south area of the showroom is highlighted by products from Kimball Office and includes furnished examples of private offices, teaming environments and collaborative workspaces. A spacious resource room and a state-of-the-art training room are available for use by employees, clients and the firm’s design partners.
Other Nominees:
- Innerspaice Architectural Interiors: UAB Cybercrime Facebook Suite
- Innerspaice Architectural Interiors: BBVA Compass at 2 North 20th Building, 2nd Floor
- Ai Corporate Interiors: Sid McDonald Building at University of Alabama
- Ai Corporate Interiors: Vulcan Value Partners at Protective Center
- Ai Corporate Interiors: IMS
- Ai Corporate Interiors: Atherotech Woods Point
- Business Interiors Inc.: UAB Student Health & Wellness – Learning Resource Center
- Business Interiors Inc.: Nike Birmingham Showroom
Best of Construction Detail
Shelving Design Systems for J&J Pharmacy. The project design goal is a fully functional upscale, modern pharmacy with a gracefully designed checkout counter reminiscent of a counter in a French drug store. The owners provided photographs of the counter taken in France. Along with the look of the checkout counter, it also has a curve and open shelves for product display. The drop-off counter also will have a curve to reflect the curve in the soffit above.
Other Nominees:
- Williams Blackstock Architects: Ware Jewelers
- HatcherSchuster Interiors: Blue Canoe Reception Desk
Best of Retail
Williams Blackstock Architects for Schaeffer Eye Center. As a provider of advanced eye care in the State of Alabama, the new flagship Schaeffer Eye Center in Hoover tangibly translates the pillars of the Schaeffer Eye Center Experience – science, style and service – through its crisp, forward-thinking interior design. Originally the home of a furniture showroom, the new clinic was transformed through a complete gutting of the 10, 000-square-foot first floor.
Other Nominees:
- Gresham, Smith & Partners: Charter Communications – Retail Prototype
Best of Residential
Williams Blackstock Architects for Redella Residence. A tree-lined sandy pathway along Rose Walk leads to this beachside home in Seaside, Florida, a community renowned for its innovative and elegant approach to capturing the character of traditional beachside towns. This 1, 962-square-foot house is situated between the pedestrian-only Rose Walk path and Robert’s Way. The importance of this pedestrian path on one side, along with the desire for vehicular access on the other side, drove the design to essentially have two fronts, with two entry porches and two front doors.
Best in Show
KPS Group for Popeyes Corporate Headquarters. Design team workshops with the owner revealed the desired Popeyes brand characteristics and their translation into both design and functional elements. Brand values like energetic, exciting, festive, vibrant, unique and authentic became design elements like natural materials, clean geometries and lines, uncluttered detailing, textural variety, home comfort and contemporary interpretation of regional Louisiana icons. Corporate culture values like innovative/inventive, evolving, growing, unique, welcoming and straightforward translated into functional elements like spaces to foster impromptu collaboration, ample conference rooms, dedicated team rooms, privacy rooms in the open office spaces, well organized circulation, universal access to natural light and the test kitchen showcase.
