AIA Design Awards 2021

Aloha,

AIA Honolulu is pleased to recognize the design professionals in our community taking the lead in bringing to life the goals for our public and private structures with the 63rd Annual Design Awards. All of the awardees exemplified a vision to meet or exceed safety requirements, utilize sustainable and efficient methods, and fulfill our cultural and emotional needs.

In October, AIA Honolulu hosted the inaugural (virtual) Design + Architecture (DnA) event open to the public and professionals to engage conversation about critical current topics affecting our environment and communities from climate change and carbon neutral cities to multifamily and affordable housing.

Solutions to these issues were at the front of minds for the Student Design Award submissions. It is clear our next generation is determined to tackle pressing matters like sea level rise and food sustainability in our island home. We are proud to award these finalists for their forward-thinking responses to our changing world.

In addition, we had a significant number of beautiful projects that create an escape; something so many of us have been looking to do more of in this time of uncertainty and opportunity. The work of architects touches the lives of all of us, and as such, celebrating the Design Awards offers a way to show pride of place for everyone. Mahalo to our AIA Honolulu members and students who submitted projects for consideration, and congratulations to all of our esteemed award winners.

Karen Sakamoto, AIA
2021 AIA Honolulu President

 

Meet the Jurors – Professional Categories

Mark De Reus, AIA (AIA Honolulu) Founding Partner of De Reus Architects

Mark leads the firm of de Reus Architects, founded in 2005. With studios in Hawaii and Idaho, the practice specializes in private residences, multifamily, hospitality and leisure works. The firm has received professional recognition by way of AIA design awards; in 2010, Architectural Digest included Mark in their AD100, a list of the world’s top architects and designers. A contextualist, Mark believes good design should have a secure sense of belonging to the site, and seek timelessness rather than stylistic trends. Mark was the past board chair of the Hawaii Meth Project, a drug prevention program.

David Miller, AIA (AIA Seattle) Associated Principal at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects

David is a multi-talented designer who values architecture that is inspired by the environment, culture and spirit of each place. His broad expertise spans from single family residences, such as the Whistler Residence in British Columbia, to large-scale mixed-use projects like Ae’o Tower in Honolulu. Leveraging his experience working across scales and project types, as well as a dedication to material and craft, innovation, and sustainability, David brings a thoughtful approach to all aspects of his work and mentorship within the practice.

Karla Sierralta, AIA (AIA Honolulu) Co-Founder of Strawn Sierralta & Associate Professor at UHM SOA

Karla is a Venezuelan- American architect, educator, and design advocate. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture, where she teaches design studios and serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies. In parallel to her academic work, she conducts design research as Principal Investigator at the University of Hawai‘i Community Design Center and leads Strawn Sierralta, an award-winning architecture and design practice founded in 2003.

Nate Smith, Founder & President of Nate Smith Studio LLC

Nate has been managing the design and construction of projects ranging from residential highrise to institutional and hospitality for the past twenty years. His projects have spanned from the East Coast to Hawai‘i with an emphasis on residential construction on the island of O‘ahu. For two decades he has worked with notable developers, award winning designers and respected builders.

Mark Tagawa, AIA (AIA Los Angeles) Principal, Hellmuth Obata Kassabaum (HOK)

Mark is a graduate of the UHM School of Architecture and has been living and practicing in Southern California for over 20 years. Leading projects as Design Principal across varying building typologies, Mark’s portfolio has focused on higher education, healthcare, corporate interiors and multi-family residential. His work balances risk-taking with appropriateness while seeking clarity, rigor, and thoughtfulness. Recent projects include the UHWO Administration and Health Sciences Building, the $500m Providence Cedars Sinai Medical Center Expansion in Tarzana, CA.

 

Meet the Jurors – Student Categories

Joel Kurokawa, ASLA, Principal & Founder of Ki Concepts LLC

Joel is a landscape architect, principal and founder of Ki Concepts LLC, a site planning, landscape architecture and urban design firm with offices in Honolulu and Hawai‘i Island. Joel is a member and past trustee of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), member and past chair of the State Professional Licensing Board of Engineers, Architects, Land Surveyors, and Landscape Architects, and a member of the CLARB Board of Directors (Council of Landscape Architecture Registration Boards).

Janice Li, AIA (AIA Honolulu), Associate Vice President at WATG

Janice is a veteran of the hospitality industry with a 20-year career that includes projects in Hawai‘i, California, Hong Kong and Thailand. In her current role as Associate Vice President and Project Architect at WATG Honolulu, she oversees hospitality and condominium projects through all phases of design and construction. Janice received her Master of Architecture degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a licensed architect in Hawai‘i, as well as a LEED Accredited Professional.

Reid T. Mizue, AIA (AIA Honolulu), President of Omizu Architecture, Inc.

Reid holds an Architecture degree from the University of Arizona College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture, and has worked though several well-known local firms prior to developing his own practice in 2011. OMIZU Architecture focuses primarily on boutique commercial projects, major government improvement projects, and select single-family residential projects. Reid has served two terms as an AIA Honolulu board member, contributes on several AIA events, chairs many AIA planning committees and is currently an AIA Hawaii State Council Board member.

 

Award Levels

• Award of Excellence – Requires unanimous vote of the jury that a project excels in all aspects. Reserved for those projects which stand out from all of the meritorious award winners. This highest honor recognizes projects which are deemed to exemplify excellence of architectural design on all levels of analysis, and exemplify the highest standards to which AIA members aspire.
• Award of Merit – Requires consensus from the jury that a project is deserving for a high quality of work overall. Granted to projects which display a high standard of architectural quality and design.
• Honorable Mention – Responds to notable achievements in one or more particular project aspects; area(s) that stood out, as agreed through consensus by the jury.

 

Project Categories

Projects are submitted and judged in one of our six categories. The number of projects awarded in each category and the award level (Excellence, Merit, Honorable Mention or Distinctive Detail) shall be determined by the jury.

• Residential – Completed projects including single-family residential; multifamily residential; residential housing community planning; and residential renovations, additions and historic preservation. Residential projects of various sizes and scope are welcome as long as the project involved substantial exterior alterations.
• Commercial/Industrial – Completed projects including public and private developments of a commercial nature comprising retail, industrial, manufacturing, and hospitality. Commercial renovations, historic preservation, adaptive reuse as well as new construction projects are eligible.
• Institutional – Completed projects including public and private developments of an institutional nature; K-12 and higher education; recreational facilities/ parks, hospitals and medical facilities and utilities.
• Interior Architecture – Completed projects involving substantial interior and minimal exterior alterations. Examples of projects falling in this category are, but not limited to, tenant improvements and new tenant spaces within an existing (or by others and/or previously completed) exterior shell/ space. Also includes residential interior renovations with minimal exterior improvement.
• Unbuilt – Unbuilt entries may include any project that is either commissioned (client sponsored) or intended for construction, or purely theoretical work not intended for construction, submitted individually (by AIA or Assoc. AIA), as a team or firm. The jury will review and select entries in this category based on creativity, originality, power and potential of the ideas presented. Winners for this award remain eligible for entry in the Built project categories when and if completed in the future.
• Distinctive Detail – Created to honor individual building components and design features that on built projects until now may not have been recognized for overall achievement. Whether it be a prominent façade, a grand staircase, or a custom piece of furniture, the Distinctive Detail Award celebrates the craftsmanship, attention to detail, and spirit of innovation expressed by architectural elements big and small.

 

D Fin House – Award of Excellence, Residential

Firm: Craig Steely Architecture
Client: Mitchell Marks
Contractor: Nicholson Construction
Location: Captain Cook, Hawai‘i Island, Hawai‘i

Near Captain Cook on Hawaiʻi Island, D Fin House maximizes the panoramic views seen from above Kealakekua Bay with its circular shape. Rising out of its roof, a prominent triangle-shaped loft sits at the back of the circle like a classic D-fin surfboard from the 1960s.

“I feel like in a lot of ways with that round shape, it’s directionless,” says D Fin House architect Craig Steely, AIA of Craig Steely Architecture. “That piece popping up there is kind of like an old D-fin on a surfboard. It basically gives direction and it makes it really clear where the focus should be.”

Oriented on Point Kāki‘o far down the Kona coastline, the two-bedroom house is made with curved glue-laminated segments bolted together to make a 56-foot diameter drum, surrounding a roofless atrium at the center. Supporting columns lift the structure off the mountain slope as if it’s floating in the landscape.

“The land is beautiful as it is,” says Steely. “Rather than trying to change it and adjust it and modify it to fit architecture, it felt more respectful to the land and what was there to have it really floating free of it, almost above it.”

 

University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu, Academy for Creative Media – Award of Merit, Institutional

Firms: Next Design, LLC; Gensler (Lead Designer)
Client: University of Hawai‘i
Contractor: Kiewit Building Group
Location: Kapolei, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i

Fostering an environment of interaction and collaboration, the design of University of Hawai‘i-West O‘ahu’s Academy for Creative Media provides an open floor plan concept with transparent glazing that accentuates natural lighting, colors and graphics.

The two-story 41,000-square-foot building is the premiere destination for creative media education, featuring a 100-seat screening room and mixing stage, post-production suites, an emerging media lab, and an industry-standard sound stage. The design provides a flexible environment for a large variety of teaching modalities, and the outdoor screening area and amphitheater connects the campus to local communities.

 

Hale Huna – Award of Merit, Residential

Firm: Walker Warner Architects
Additional Design Firms: de la Cruz Interior Design (Interior Design), David Y. Tamura Associates (Landscape Architecture)
Contractor: Ledson Construction
Location: Hawai‘i

At the end of a one-mile drive through a desolated lava field is a family home operating entirely off-grid. The house, originally designed by architect Vladimir Ossipoff, was deteriorating and needed to be rebuilt.

Taking inspiration from Ossipoff while adding contemporary requirements, the design of Hale Huna embraces views of the full landscape and blends the line between interior and exterior. The low-pitched complex consists of a one-bedroom living hale, plus a three-bedroom guest hale perched at the edge of the lava ridge. The strong yet understated architecture functions seamlessly with minimal impact on natural resources.

 

Podmore – Honorable Mention, Interior Architecture

Firm: WRNS Studio
Client: Anthony Rush; Katherine Nomura
Contractor: JBA Construction LLC
Location: Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i

Bringing life to the historical Joseph W. Podmore building, this brunch-by-day, cocktail-by-night restaurant effortlessly spans both concepts while complementing the architecturally significant structure.

 

Moanalua High School Performing Arts Center – People’s Choice Award, Institutional

Firm: AHL
Client: State of Hawaii, Department of Education
Contractor: Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company
Location: Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i

The school offers an innovative design solution for students, community resource, and sustainable facility for the Department of Education. It supports the school’s award-winning music and theatre programs which could no longer accommodate its growing program and found a suitable space within campus boundaries.

The People’s Choice Award is selected following a two-week online voting process that is open to AIA members and the public at large.

 

Nohona Hale – Mayor’s Choice Award, Residential

Firm: WCIT Architecture
Additional Design Firms: Albert Chong and Associates, Inc. (Electrical and Lighting), Notkin Hawaii, Inc. (Mechanical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection), Baldridge & Associates Structural Engineering (Structure), Walters, Kimura, Motoda, Inc. (Landscape), Wilson Okamoto Corporation (Civil), and ARUP (LEED Consultant)
Client: Bronx Pro Group & EAH Housing
Contractor: Swinerton Builders
Location: Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i

The building is beautiful and efficient, offering homes for rent at 30-60% of Kaka‘ako’s median income. The compact design is the first “microunit” building in the state.

The Mayor’s Choice Award was selected by Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi from among all the entries.

 

Pacific Heights Air – Hawaiʻi Home + Remodeling Editors Choice Awards, Residential

Firm: roli poli studio
Contractor: Kai Ridge Construction
Location: Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i

The new residence is married to the foundations of the original home, with peek-a-boo vantage points overlooking Urban Honolulu and Puowaina.

In collaboration with Hawaii Home + Remodeling, a leading home improvement and remodeling magazine for Island homeowners, this award celebrates design excellence by selecting a recipient among the many stellar submissions in the residential category.

 

Kohala High School STEM / Science Facility – Hawaiʻi Energy Award for Energy-Efficient Design, Institutional

Firm: Ferraro Choi and Associates
Client: State of Hawaii, Department of Education
Contractor: F&H Construction
Location: Kapa‘au, Hawai‘i Island, Hawai‘i

The Kohala High School STEM / Science Project became the first public school project in Hawaii to achieve HI-CHPS Verified (Collaborative for High Performance) certification in June, 2020. Schools which meet HI-CHPS criteria are defined as high performance learning environments that are healthy, comfortable, conserve energy, water and resources, safe, adaptable and easy to operate and maintain. The project has been designed to be a Net Zero facility.

This award seeks to recognize buildings that help Hawai‘i toward our 100% clean energy goals by incorporating energy efficiency as a foundational value. The winning project exemplifies the many benefits of proven efficient technologies for occupant comfort and health, productivity, lower operating costs, and protecting our islands’ environment.

 

Ola ka ʻIlima Artspace Lofts – USGBC Hawaiʻi Sustainability Award, Residential

Firm: Urban Works, Inc.
Additional Design Firm: Weinstein A+U
Client: Artspace Projects Inc.
Contractor: Unlimited Construction Services Inc.
Location: Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i

The mixed-use development provides 84 affordable rental live/work units for artists and their families. Sustainable design strategies include naturally ventilated units, daylighting, and solar shading systems.

In collaboration with U.S. Green Building Council Hawaii Chapter, this award celebrates the best of green building and sustainable market transformation. It recognizes projects for their integration of design excellence with environmental performance.

 

Student Design Awards

Reestablished in 2016, the Student Design Awards were created to honor student achievements in the design studio and provide a forum for student design excellence to be celebrated beyond the academic setting.

 

Kaiwi Floating City – Award of Excellence, Graduate

Student: My Tran
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

Floating structures are always seen as a future vision, though they have existed since the first human settlements in African, European, Southeast Asian, and North American countries. Climate change and global warming require us to change our built environment. Although floating platforms are more prevalent in the oil industry due to the cost of construction and manufacturing, they surely can apply to many other purposes.

 

Immersive Workplace – Honorable Mention, Graduate

Students: Moises Lio Can; Zaw Latt; Yaning Zhang; Ming Xu
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

This vision was to design a post-pandemic workplace that acknowledges challenges of communication, transportation, climate change, identity, and community. Inspired by South Korea, which has the second most working hours in the OECD.

 

Tomato Tomorrow – Honorable Mention & People’s Choice Award, Undergraduate

Students: Taylee Kelly; Riza Lara; Thanh Nguyen; Haixin Ruan; Joy Edades; Jacy Yatsu
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

Encouraging food independence, environmentally-friendly measures, and a great sense of community for Downtown Honolulu by reusing parking spaces to create urban agriculture. Vegetables can be grown using LED lights and aeroponics to increase food independence, and people will be able to enjoy a tomato, tomorrow.

 

Hale Konuwaena – Honorable Mention, Undergraduate

Student: Kaimana Tuazon
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

This project specifically addresses cultural inequity, physical challenges, and general wellbeing problems on campus, by utilizing aspects found in Hawai‘i, such as the lānai to support individual and communal health, and open space designs that teach Native Hawaiian practices that help perpetuate Hawaiian culture and language.

 

Hui O Leʻahi – Honorable Mention, Undergraduate

Student: Desiree Joy Malabed
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

The design proposal introduces a fitness studio at the base of Le‘ahi to support existing activities that follow the themes of health and wellness that is accessible through multiple modes of transportation while also acting as a gathering place for Le‘ahi.

 

Student Distinguished Entrants

Bamboo Housing – Graduate

Students: Christina Holcom; Benjamin Ngo; Josephine Briones; Hiu Ki Au
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

 

Kuliouou Trailhead – Graduate

Student: Eliott Frank
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

 

Spread to Sustain – Graduate

Student: Jordan Luo
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

 

A Campus for All – Student & Faculty Collaboration Hub – Undergraduate

Student: Kaylen Daquioag
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

 

Artisanal Space – Undergraduate

Student: Ellora Clark Mendonça
School: Chaminade University of Honolulu

 

Innovation Station – Undergraduate

Student: Megan Pope
School: Chaminade University of Honolulu

 

Kewalo Basin & Hoʻokupu Center Resilient Design – Undergraduate

Student: Darylyn Chau
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

 

Luna Restaurant and Stargazing – Undergraduate

Student: Rachael Bradley
School: Chaminade University of Honolulu

 

Mala Tower – Undergraduate

Student: Hannah Angelika Valencia
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

 

Wahi Kanaho – Undergraduate

Student: Brandi Baligad
School: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture

 

Distinguished Entrants

Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa Renovations – Commercial / Industrial

Firm: AHL
Client: Kiyo-Ya Hotels, LLC
Contractors: Swinerton Builders
Location: Lahaina, Maui, Hawai‘i

 

Huihui Beachfront Restaurant at Ka‘anapali Beach Hotel – Commercial / Industrial

Firm: FSC Architects LLC
Additional Design Firm: Philpotts & Associates, Inc (Interior Designers)
Client: KBHL, LLC
Contractor: Swinerton Builders
Location: Lahaina, Maui, Hawai‘i

 

American Savings Bank, Kalihi Branch – Commercial / Industrial

Firm: InForm Design
Client: American Savings Bank
Contractor: Ralph S. Inouye Co., Ltd.
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

Joint Traffic Management Center – Institutional

Firm: AHL
Additional Design Firm: Jacobs
Client: Department of Transportation Services, City & County of Honolulu
Contractor: Watts Constructors
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

ʻIolani School Labs & Studios – Institutional

Firm: G70
Client: ʻIolani School
Contractor: Allied Builders System
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

University of Hawai‘i, Life Sciences Building – Institutional

Firm: G70
Additional Design Firm: HERA laboratory planners
Client: University of Hawaiʻi
Contractor: Layton Construction Company, LLC
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

Punahou School, Sidney and Minnie Kosasa Community – Institutional

Firm: Design Partners Incorporated
Additional Design Firms: PBR Hawaii & Associates, Inc. (Landscape Architect); Shigemura, Lau, Sakanashi, Higuchi & Associates, Inc. (Structural Engineer)
Client: Punahou School
Contractor: Nordic PCL Construction Inc.
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

Urban Grow Pods – Interior Architecture

Firm: OMIZU Architecture Inc.
Client: MetroGrow Hawaii
Contractor: IC Construction Inc.
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

Elemental Excelerator, Project Nebula – Interior Architecture

Firm: Dean Sakamoto Architects, LLC
Additional Design Firms: Inatsuka Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing Engineering); The Vanguard Theory (Interior Design)
Client: Elemental Excelerator
Contractor: J. Kadowaki, Inc.; Joey Valenti, the Albizia Project
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

The Kobayashi & Kosasa Family Dining Room at Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women & Children – Interior Architecture

Firm: Peter Vincent Architects
Client: Hawaiʻi Pacific Health
Contractor: Constructors Hawaii Inc.
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

Ala Moana Hotel – Interior Architecture

Firm: InForm Design
Client: Ala Moana Hotel by Mantra
Contractor: Layton Construction Company, LLC
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

Sculpture Display Alcove – Distinctive Detail

Firm: Lapis Design Partners, LLC
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

Mālama Market of Pāhoa – Distinctive Detail

Firm: G70
Client: Sullivan Family of Companies
Location: Pāhoa, Hawaiʻi Island, Hawaiʻi

 

Hale Makana O Maili – Residential

Firm: AHL
Client: Hawaiian Community Development Board
Contractor: Moss Construction
Location: Waiʻanae, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi

 

Lualaʻi – Residential

Firm: Peter Vincent Architects
Additional Design Firms: SurfaceDesign, Inc. (Landscape Architecture)
Contractor: MNM Construction
Location: Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi

 

Ocean Retreat – Residential

Firm: MASON
Additional Design Firms: Loriann Gordon Landscape Architect (Landscape Architect); Martin, Chock, & Carden, Inc. (Structural Engineer)Contractor: Dan O’Sullivan Construction
Location: Waimānalo, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i

 

Hale Niʻo – Residential

Firm: roli poli studio
Contractor: Innovative Construction
Location: Kailua, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i

 

Eight Islands: Vision for the Hawaiʻi State Capitol Mall – Unbuilt

Non-Commissioned Theoretical Work
Firm: Polyline and Andrew Tang Design
Additional Design Firms: Studio AD; HHF Planners
Client: Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry Program of the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and State and Private Forestry, branch of the U.S. Forest Service, Region 5.
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

Honolulu Chinatown Kekaulike Archway – Unbuilt

Commissioned Work the be Built
Firm: Polyline and Andrew Tang Design
Additional Design Firms: Kekaulike Mall Improvement Project; HDR, Inc.
Client: A Better Chinatown Association
Location: Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawai‘i

 

8 Homes on 1700 sf, An Affordable Housing Solution – Unbuilt

Non-Commissioned Theoretical Work
Firm: Purnima McCutcheon, AIA; Robert Macdonald, RIBA
Client: NYC HPD and AIA NY’s Big Ideas for Small Lots in NYC Competition
Location: New York, NY

 

Congratulations to all the winners! To view information about all the submissions, visit www.aiahonolulu.org.