Awards: Grand Prize > Citation Awards > Honorable Mentions

Twelve architecture firms receive Honorable Mention Awards.
The six-person panel of Learning By Design judges carefully reviewed 130 educational facility design and construction projects before conclusively whittling them down to a select group of finalists in the annual Learning By Design competition for architecture and design firms. After two days of detailed judging and discussion, the panel selected 12 educational facility design projects to receive Honorable Mention Awards in this year’s competition.

Judges noted an increased focus on natural lighting among all of the 2007 award winners, as well as careful attention to finishing details, the inclusion of group learning areas, and the innovative use of non-classroom spaces for student interaction and study. And due to the particularly competitive pool of project entries this year, judges presented a total of 12 Learning By Design Honorable Mention Awards. The following firms won Learning By Design 2007 Honorable Mention Awards for their entries in this year’s competition:

Dena New Primary Center Tom Bonner

Rachlin Architects Incorporated, Culver City, Calif., received an Honorable Mention for Dena New Primary Center, Los Angeles, Calif. The new school serves 250 K-2 students in an urban area that includes an industrial zone, railway tracks, and known gang activity in a neighboring public housing development. Given the setting, a standout feature of the new campus is its focus toward the central courtyard, which provides a secure play environment and helps control school access. Judges praised the design’s “successful execution of creating a central space” that meets the play and learning needs of young students.

Tower Pinkster Titus Associates, Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., received an Honorable Mention for the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Academy, Grand Rapids, Mich. An outdoor community amphitheater and an adaptable cafeteria that converts to a performance venue are among the features that make this school a valuable resource for the community. The school, which serves more than 500 students from pre-K to eighth grade, also features a diversity-inspired tile mural. Judges commended the facility’s contextual design, while another said there was simply “something charming” about the school.

North Central Junior High School Farshid Assassi

Neumann Monson Architects, Iowa City, Iowa, received an Honorable Mention for North Central Junior High School, North Liberty, Iowa. Designed and constructed to meet the U.S. Department of Energy’s high performance guidelines, the school serves 450 seventh- and eighth-grade students. Completed in July 2006, the building features a geothermal system for heating and cooling as well as lights that respond to sensors and activate automatically. Judges noted the elegant design of a grand staircase at the school’s entrance as well as the project design’s attention to optimizing the use of natural light throughout the building.