Four Architecture Alumni Honored With Design Awards

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Reese Rowland’s design of the Heifer International Education Center in Little Rock won first prize in the 2010 Fay Jones Alumni Design Awards, a competition held by the Fay Jones School of Architecture to recognize outstanding work being done by alumni. Photograph by Timothy Hursley.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – More than 20 designs for homes and structures dedicated to medicine, education, finance and religion vied for recognition in this year’s Fay Jones Alumni Design Awards competition.

Entries came from Fay Jones School of Architecture alumni practicing in cities around the state, as well as in Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Florida and Maryland. After careful review, the three-member jury chose four projects for accolades.

The alumni design awards were announced and presented April 7 during the school’s annual Honors Recognition Banquet at the Clarion Inn in Fayetteville.

Reese Rowland took first prize with his design of the Heifer International Education Center in Little Rock. Rowland, who graduated in 1990 from the university with a bachelor’s degree in architecture, is a principal with Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects in Little Rock. Rowland was also a co-winner of the 2008 alumni design competition, with his design of the Heifer International Headquarters.

The jury said of the Heifer education center: “The graceful, curvilinear shape of the new building housing the Education Center nicely complements the existing Heifer International Headquarters, and its scale and placement reinforce the communal character of the place. The daring invocation of the ‘usually unyielding’ circular forms works, here, very well as an inspirational response to the vision of Heifer International and achieves a seamless fit between the building and the landscape. Indeed, the jury members recognize in the project the skillful translation of effective sustainability applications into an elegantly executed design of the building. All in all, the strong showcase of sustainability will make this building an excellent architectural exemplar to be emulated by others in the state, the country and the world.”

The Honor Award went to Greg Belew for Cool Stuff, a physics installation at Discovery Place Inc. in Charlotte, N.C. Belew, a 1982 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in architecture, is executive director and architectural liaison at Hands On! Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The jury recognized “the exquisite ability of the designer to properly select the palette of materials and colors that are skillfully manipulated for the appeal of children ranging in age from 8 to 13. This project merges concepts of low and high technology with aesthetics in a compelling and interesting way. The architectural elegance of the richly designed set of prototypes is also convincingly appropriate in scale for children interaction. Unique to this project, however, is the sense of craft, the kind of tactility that draws you in, and the appreciation of how each installation is made. The jury resolutely decided to recognize the valuable contribution of this project to the design of installations and exhibits.”

The jury also found two residential projects to be deserving of merit awards.

One Merit Award went to Tim Maddox of deMx Architecture in Fayetteville for The Bowtie. Maddox, a 2002 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in architecture, designed this Fayetteville home. The jury noted the effective layout of the linear plan, the registration of light and the finish materials applied to the dining and living areas.

The other Merit Award went to John H. Jones for the interior redesign of the Lewis-Markell Residence in Memphis, Tenn. Jones, a 1979 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in architecture, owns the firm John Harrison Jones Architect in Memphis. The jury said the home, which had been repeatedly redecorated over the years, “had lost the original clarity that was initially produced in the design of renowned Memphis architect Francis Gassner.” Jury members appreciated the renovation efforts “that led to the re-creation of warm and attractive interiors, as a result of meticulous spatial transformations and materials application.”

Jury members were all faculty members of the architecture school: Tahar Messadi, associate professor of architecture; Lynn Fitzpatrick, clinical assistant professor of architecture; and Kimball Erdman, assistant professor of landscape architecture.