The 2014 WASLA Professional Awards were held on April 11th at the Mountaineers in Magnuson Park. The international jury consisted of five academics and practitioners: Clare Cooper Marcus, Keith LeBlanc, Cynthia Girling, Marsha Lea and Terry Clements. The jury bestowed nine awards to Washington Landscape Architects for their outstanding work. This year 27 submissions were received. Projects had to be completed by a landscape architect registered in Washington state. The work could be completed anywhere. Projects were submitted in January and adjudicated in February. The Professional Awards have been on-going for the past 30 years. An Outstanding Volunteer Service Award was presented to Kellye Hilde for her dedication and service to the chapter. The Honor Award is the highest award given, followed by merit and special mention.
The UpGarden
Honor Award in General Design
Firm: The Kistler | Higbee Cahoot
Location: Seattle
Client: Seattle Center & Seattle Dept. of Neighborhoods
Engineer: Bykonen Carter Quinn
Other Consultants: Seattle Urban Farm Company
Jury Comments: This project is an outstanding example of what can be done to re-invent underutilized urban infrastructure into a vibrant community landscape.
University of Washington West Campus Residences
Merit Award in General Design
Firm: Gustafson Guthrie Nichol
Location: Seattle
Client: UW Housing & Food Services
Architect: Mahlum
Jury Comments: This is an excellent redesign of the approaches to student housing and the spaces between buildings – the very spaces where students are likely to gather, meet, and socialize.
Magnuson Park
Merit Award in General Design
Firm: Berger Partnership
Location: Seattle
Client: Seattle Parks and Rec
Engineer: Dyanne Sheldon
Jury Comments: The jury was impressed that the history and ecology of the site was well represented in the finished design, even though quite different uses have been installed over time.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Campus
Merit Award in General Design
Firm: Gustafson Guthrie Nichol
Location: Seattle
Client: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Architect: NBBJ
Engineer: KPFF, ARUP
Other Consultants: CMS Collaborative
Jury Comments: This handsomely executed campus design is a dramatic repair of a former parking lot to a predominantly green/blue refuge.
Stack House Multi-Family Development
Merit Award in Residential Design
Firm: Berger Partnership
Location: Seattle
Client: Vulcan Inc
Architect: Runberg Architecture Group
Jury Comments: The strong connectivity of the new development to the neighborhood and maximizing the site by creating dual purpose spaces for service and recreation, with an emphasis on the pedestrian won praise from the jury.
Melrose Promenade
Merit Award in Research, Planning and Analysis
Firm: Berger Partnership
Location: Seattle
Client: Mike Kent, Melrose Promenade Advisory
Architect: Schemata & Weinstein AU
Jury Comments: The ideas presented in this vision offer possibilities that seemed attainable and made real by the graphics.
Assiniboine Zoo – Journey to Churchill
Merit Award in Works in Progress
Firm: The Portico Group
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Client: Assiniboine Park Conservancy
Architect: The Portico Group, The Ten Architectural Group
Engineer: SMS Engineering, CKP Ltd, KGS, NWH Global, Enermodal Engineering Ltd
Jury Comments: This work in progress shows promise to be both an immersive education and a genuinely altering landscape experience.
East Bay Public Plaza
Special Mention Award in General Design
Firm: Robert W. Droll, Landscape Architect, PS
Location: Olympia, WA
Client: LOTT Clean Water Alliance
Architect: Swalling Walk
Engineer: Waterscape Solutions
Other Consultants: Sea Reach, Brown & Caldwell, BCE Engineers, Shea Carr Jewell, Mike Cummins, Amanda Klemaske Conahan, Brandon Zebold, and Eric Holdener
Jury Comments: The jury gave this interactive learning landscape high marks for the stories it tells about water.
American Trail Smithsonian National Zoological Park
Special Mention Award in General Design
Firm: The Portico Group
Location: Washington DC
Client: Smithsonian National Zoological Park
Architect: Quinn Evans Architects
Engineer: McMullan & Associates, James Posey & Assoc, Gordon
Other Consultants: The Care of Trees, Protection Engineering
Jury Comments: The jury cited the artful translation of a west coast habitat into an east coast environment as worthy of recognition along with the close attention to details embedded in the exhibit hardscape.
People’s Choice Award
East Bay Public Plaza
Firm: Robert W. Droll, Landscape Architect, PS
Location: Olympia, WA
Client: LOTT Clean Water Alliance
Architect: Swalling Walk
Engineer: Waterscape Solutions
Other Consultants: Sea Reach, Brown & Caldwell, BCE Engineers, Shea Carr Jewell, Mike Cummins, Amanda Klemaske Conahan, Brandon Zebold, and Eric Holdener
