2007 International Excellence in Masonry Awards
San Elijo Elementary School
San Marcos, CA
Mason Contractor: New Dimension Masonry, Inc.
Architect: HMC Architects
The design of San Elijo Elementary School is intended to relate to the district's desire to commission an energy-efficient, sustainable, and durable facility which is reflected in the choice of a concrete masonry envelope. The use of masonry played a significant role to exceed the California Energy Title 24 requirements and met the criteria for Energy Savings by Design. The Collaborative for High Performance Schools agency aims to increase the energy efficiency of schools by providing assistance to architects by helping them design environments that are not only sustainable and energy efficient, but healthy and comfortable. The recycled content of the masonry provided the designer the opportunity to comply with the sustainable qualities of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
Judges Comments: The jury found the playful use of a variety of masonry systems within this campus to be very fitting for an elementary school. The various colors and textures seem to produce an environment conducive to creativity and learning. The project attempts to intelligently deploy the inherent thermal properties of masonry on a relatively large scale in order to maximize the buildings thermal mass within this hot climate and contribute to the overall goals of the LEED program. While more attention could have been paid to the detailing of the transitions from one masonry system to another, the overall design intent was commendable.
Valley Center Maxine Theater
Valley Center, CA
Mason Contractor: New Dimension Masonry, Inc.
Architect: Davy Architecture
A design-build project, the facility's architecture had to meet three main criteria: functionality, durability, and aesthetics. Concrete masonry was chosen as the structural system as well as interior and exterior finish because it met all three of these criteria. The excellent acoustic properties of the CMU walls provide an acoustically superior house requiring very little sound attenuation. Eliminating the need costly interior and exterior finishes, the use of concrete masonry allowed the school district to spend limited budget on upgraded theatrical equipment. Most importantly, the CMU construction provided extremely durable facility for many future generations' use.
Judges Comments: This project demonstrates careful handling of a problematic sloping site - the decision to insert the building into the hill provides an overall massing that does not impose on the site and complements the sloping seat-bank requirements in the theatre. The architects are complemented on their coordination of contrasting bands of smooth and split-face masonry units. These bands were carefully integrated with door and window headers, window mullions, and shading devices to form strong horizontal lines that break up the large expanses of blank walls (which are unavoidable in a theatre). The flaring concrete entry piece is a strong contrast to the planar masonry walls. The masonry contract obviously took considerable time to detail and complete the installation. The construction joints are appropriately placed and the block walls appear to have been constructed with very few cut units.
Grinnell College - Joe Rosenfield '25 Center
Grinnell, IA
Mason Contractor: Forrest & Associate, Inc.
Architect: Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects
The new Joe Rosenfield '25 Center is the "living room" of the college and serves as a social, cultural, educational and activity center. The apparent massing of the facility is reduced by articulating the building with distinct volumetric forms, each with its own material, color and texture. The Dining Pavilion is clad with Vetter Kasota Crème Veine Limestone. The Fireplace Lounge is clad with Chinese Red Porphyry. The fireplace is constructed of Cambrian Black Granite. The Multipurpose Room is clad in Vermont Structural Slate Unfading Green Slate. The general building areas use three different brick colors from Sioux City Brick.
Judges Comments: This project exhibits a skillful solution to a very difficult architectural problem: making a very large building look and feel like a composition of smaller buildings. The architects achieved this through the use of several different kinds of masonry, all of which compliment each other without compromising the overall clarity of the building's design. The execution of the masonry detailing supports the architectural intent in a consistent way throughout. There is a long, taut red-brick facade with a stepping ribbon window, a crisp, cubic block clad in limestone with punched openings, a hovering corner block (of slate) that floats over a glazed void, and a drum/cylinder of red porphyry that appears monolithic (it is in fact hollowed out) that anchors the building to it's site. The jury admired the ability of the architects and builders to realize a level of detailing and construction that could accommodate the complexities of the design. Masonry is exhibited here as a contemporary building material, i.e. a cladding material first and foremost. However, the nuances of the various individual forms' use of masonry alludes to the evolution of the material from load-bearing and monolithic toward high-performing environmental envelope.
Holy Innocents Parish
Duvall, WA
Mason Contractor: Ward's Masonry
Architect: Becker Architects
The new church is located at the center of the upper portion of the site and will be the main focus of the tightly designed campus plan in the future. Future phases will include a grade school, administration center and Social Hall, along with the church, will surround an outdoor public plaza and colonnade. This site plan is based on based on early Christian basilica churches. The masonry system is designed as a concrete and steel reinforced single wythe wall with Korfill insulation. This simple wall system allows the strength of the masonry to be exposed on the outside and inside of the church.
Judges Comments: The jury felt that the Holy Innocents Parish building was equally beautiful in form and execution. The strong slipping planes defined by the masonry walls not only frame the front and rear elevations of the building, but also provide stiffening pilasters for the tall masonry walls. The interior of the building shows a careful consideration of complementary materials - in this case - split faced block with glued-laminated timber beams. The horizontal banding, vertical pilasters, and careful insertion of window slits help reduce the scale of this otherwise very large building. The interior has the drama achieved by Moneo's Our Lady of the Angels, without the confusing exterior elevations. The detailed images confirm that the contractors were careful in their detailing and execution of the project.
Mason Structure Office - Warehouse
Lexington, KY
Mason Contractor: Mason Structure, Inc.
Architect: Sherman Carter Barnhart PSC
Standing as evidence to the joy of working with masonry is the Mason Structure Office - Warehouse near downtown Lexington, Kentucky. The large masonry arches were inspired by a building constructed in Italy in 1990 by architect Mario Botta. The fenestration was dictated by the brick bond patterns; English bond below the water-table, Norman brick above with every sixth course a dark header, and eight inch stretchers. Much of the interior also features exposed masonry work. The building is load bearing masonry with ground face CMU which further echoes the actual and perceived durability and solid appearance of the masonry façades.
Judges Comments: The jury was immediately struck by the overall impact of this building and were even more impressed with the masonry detailing and execution. The use of a strong base of brick masonry and the detailing of the clay-tile watertable was spectacular. The thickness of the arches implies a load-bearing order inherent in the strength of masonry, but rarely used in today's single-wythe veneers. The use of header courses in contrasting slate-colored brick breaks up an otherwise tremendous façade. The corbelling at the roof completes the initial strong plinth at the base of the building - resolving the large planar walls without the need for superficial ornament or out-of-plane moves common in buildings today. The windows are inset into the wall, providing the shadow lines that showcase the multi-wythe construction of the walls. The overall form and construction invoke the work of Botta without being derivative. It is an appropriate reference.
Lake Bluff Residence
Lake Bluff, IL
Mason Contractor: R. Sanchez & Sons, Inc.
A 60's-style California-Ranch home on wooded acreage above Lake Michigan underwent a dramatic transformation into a French Country Manor, along with an equally exuberant landscape renovation that reflects its Old World elegance and architectural style. The "hardscape" elements are core to the landscape design and provide interest throughout the 4 seasons. The whimsical stone wishing well, surrounded by cheery flowers, welcomes visitors to the home, while the flagstone walk and other stone elements help tie the landscape to architectural features of the house. Hefty stone walls look like they've been there for centuries, and provide a sense of authentic French Country charm.
Judges Comments: The jury found the use of masonry to be very thoughtful for the scale of the residence. By using a variety of masonry units and stone for the paving, edging and walled elements, the design and use of masonry exhibited a holistic theme that created softening of the hardscape. This softening, contrary the inherent property of masonry material, became more evident in areas that masonry was used to create walkways for circulation or seat walls for social gathering.
Tufts University - West Hall Project
Medford, MA
Mason Contractor: Phoenix Bay State Construction, Co., Inc.; Roxbury, MA
Architect: McGinley Kalsow & Associates, LLP; Somerville, MA
Tufts University's West Hall, erected in 1871 as a dormitory for students at the college and the divinity school, is a four-story red brick and Nova Scotia sandstone building. Built in the Ruskinian Gothic style, it follows the design principles popularized by British art and social critic John Ruskin in the 1800's. Gradually over the years, due to a lack of maintenance and poorly executed repairs, much of the original architectural elements were removed from this classic building at the heart of Tufts' campus. In the spring of 2005, Payton Construction Corporation was charged with restoring its brick and sandstone exterior and slate roof to their original splendor.
Judges Comments: Tufts University West Hall project demonstrated a concern for detail and historical accuracy. The care in which the contractors cleaned, repointed, and selectively replaced the brick and cleaned the sandstone ensured that the building would be preserved for another century. West Hall today is beautiful, functional, and continues to be a landmark reflective of the late-nineteenth century academic gothic style.
Senior Services of King County
Seattle, WA
Mason Contractor: B&B Tile and Masonry Corp
Architect: Weinstein A|U Architects and Urban Designers
A new headquarters for Senior Services of King County, a non-profit agency that supports the independence of seniors. The site is a 6,480-sf mid-block lot on Second Avenue in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood. The mixed-use program includes 25 units of affordable elderly housing, a shared rooftop garden terrace and two visitor parking stalls. The concrete frame structure employs a hybrid skin of a ground-faced bearing wall masonry at the party wall property lines - solidly grouted to meet required 4-hour fire resistive rating - and ground-faced masonry veneer at the street and alley elevations, integrated for an enduring, low-maintenance and cost-effective façade.
Judges Comments: The jury found the elegant use of inexpensive 8" CMU's as a primary exterior facing to be very much in line with the spirit of an affordable housing project for senior citizens. While the project does not lay claim to a particularly novel implementation of masonry, it does demonstrate how an architectural design strategy can maximize the effects of a masonry system that is commonly overlooked or considered only as a service material. The bookend placement of the two masonry masses frame the primary glass façade and quietly bound the site, while providing rated party walls for future adjacent developments. Additionally, the overall color scheme subtly plays between the grays and greens of both opaque masonry and transparent glass to produce a beautiful color scheme that seems to originate from the common gray coloring of the CMU's.
