2024 AIA Maine Design Awards
19 projects from here and away showcasing the incredible talents of Maine-based architects and firms
As Maine’s definitive design authority, MH+D is thrilled to showcase the winners of the state’s prestigious Design Awards distributed by the Maine chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Maine). The awards, which recognize the incredible talents of Maine-based architects and firms for projects completed both here and away, serve as a fundamental record of the evolution of contemporary architecture in the state. “The design work that Maine architects have submitted this year continues the trend of excellence in our awards program,” said Paul Lewandowski, founder of Paul Designs Project and chair of the awards committee. “Each year, we see more work that is thoughtfully conceived and espouses sustainability, energy efficiency, and water conservation.”
For the 2024 program, AIA Maine received 46 submissions from 31 applicants in the categories of commercial, single-family residential, renovations and adaptive reuse, and small projects with budgets under $350,000. In the past, the awards committee has selected a jury of peers from Iceland, Montreal, and Wyoming to review the entries; this year’s jury hailed from Connecticut. “We work very hard to keep the sanctity of the jury pure and allow our jurors to select the best of the best,” says Lewandowski. “They decide on the number of award recipients; we don’t have a formula for them to determine the number of winners.” The total of 19 winning projects grace the following pages, though all entries in the Design Awards program are displayed at the recognition reception. “This helps us to achieve our goal of celebrating design in Maine; even if a project isn’t awarded, it is on display for all to see,” adds Lewandowski.
AIA Maine introduced the Architrave Award this year to recognize excellence in traditional design. “In our mission to showcase all of the excellent design work happening in Maine, we felt the addition of a traditional design award would celebrate design even further,” Lewandowski explains. A separate jury was selected to review the Architrave entries and select winners based on the thoughtful adaptation of tradition to address twenty-first-century needs.
The “unbuilt” category, which is the only area that extends to both professional architects and students from Maine (as well as those studying architecture in the state), offers an opportunity to recognize projects that were fully conceived but never constructed. “There is so much excellent work that is on the drawing boards of Maine architects that never gets to see the light of day,” says Lewandowski, adding that the student work coming from the architecture program at the University of Maine in Augusta “is an indicator that Maine will have some very strong ‘homegrown’ architects soon.”
MH+D is honored to present the winners of the 2024 AIA Maine Design Awards.
Institutional + Commercial
The Paula Crane Lunder House, Jane Powers House, Carol Swann-Daniels House & Jacqueline Núñez House, Waterville
Kaplan Thompson Architects
Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Jesse Thompson, FAIA
Senior Architectural Designer: Emily Greene
Architecture Team: Danielle Foisy, Sarah Spielman
Interior Designer: Mikaela Baldy
Structural Engineer: Trillium Engineering Group
Off-Site Modular Construction: KBS Builders
Landscape Architect: Klopfer Martin Design Group
Civil Engineer: VHB
Electrical Engineer: Enterprise Electric
Mechanical & Plumbing Engineer: Design Day Mechanicals
General Contractor: Consigli Construction
Photographer: Christian Phillips Photography
From the Jury:
The project’s delivery showcases the architect’s role in problem-solving to create a beautiful project. The restraint in the use of materials is very refreshing. Embracing wood as a natural material is commendable. Letting the shade and shadow over the form create interest in the facade is well done.
From the Architect:
The Paula Crane Lunder House, Jane Powers House, Carol Swann-Daniels House, and Jacqueline Núñez House are four high-performance residence halls for Colby College, which were designed and built in 15 months. A replicable building design, rapid modular construction, and an integrated design-build team satisfied an urgent need for housing and maintained the college’s high standards for quality, sustainability, and design.
The residence halls satisfy both the aggressive timeline and the college’s deep sustainability mandates. By distributing 200 beds across four two-story buildings (50 beds per building) instead of one monolithic structure, sustainable, low-embodied-energy wood construction methods could be employed in a manner atypical for a college campus.
A strategic hybridization of factory- and field-built elements allowed multiple phases of the build to progress simultaneously across three production sites: a modular factory, a temporary precast concrete yard created in a college parking lot, and the actual site for each building. Concrete foundation panels were precast with a board-formed pattern while site work and excavation progressed nearby. At the same time, prefabricated structural units were constructed at an off-site factory and delivered to the campus with interior fixtures and finishes installed. The 18 modules that compose each of the two-story buildings wrap centralized stick-built corridors and plug into the site-assembled mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems.
Staggered construction starts for the four dormitories enabled design improvements that were identified
during the first build to be rapidly applied to the remaining structures.
USM Portland Commons Residence Hall & McGoldrick Center for Career & Student Success, Portland
SMRT Architects & Engineers / Elkus Manfredi Architects
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principals-in-Charge: Craig Piper, AIA (SMRT Architects & Engineers); John Martin, FAIA (Elkus Manfredi Architects)
Senior Architects: Nicholas Vaughn, AIA (SMRT Architects & Engineers); Ross Cameron (Elkus Manfredi Architects)
Project Manager: Kristen Damuth, AIA (SMRT Architects & Engineers)
Project Architects: Philip Chaney, AIA (SMRT Architects & Engineers); Austin Lee (Elkus Manfredi Architects)
Interior Designer: Elkus Manfredi Architects
Structural, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing & Fire Protection Engineer: SMRT Architects & Engineers
Development Partner: Capstone Development Partners
Passive House Consultant: Steven Winter Associates
Permitting Partner: Woodard & Curran
Code: Jensen Hughes
Acoustics: Acentech
Commercial Kitchen Designer: Sodexo
Geotech: SW Cole
General Contractor: PC Construction
Photographer: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
Commendable sustainability performance. The mass timber becoming part of the iconography of the building is very nicely done. The material integration of the interior and exterior creates a unique project that is well integrated.
From the Architect:
The Portland Commons Residence Hall and McGoldrick Center for Career and Student Success transformed the University of Southern Maine’s Portland commuter campus into a welcoming residential community. The new buildings and landscape enhance social equity, drive economic prosperity, and promote environmental stewardship through Passive House design.
The project was initiated in 2019 as part of the university’s facilities master plan and was completed in 2023. It is a stunning example of sustainable design and is the university’s first on-campus housing facility in Portland as well as the country’s second-largest Passive House university building. With enough room to accommodate nearly 600 students, the Portland Commons Residence Hall includes 385 units, incorporating a mix of single-occupancy rooms, studio apartments, and large apartments with multiple bedrooms and bathrooms. Four wings compose the structure, two of which reach five stories and two, eight stories in height, defining the street walls and a new campus entrance.
At the heart of the campus and adjacent to the residence hall is the McGoldrick Center for Career and Student Success. The Student Center structure and L.L.Bean Quad (nicknamed the “Bean Green” by students) form a physical and metaphorical campus heart by connecting preexisting facilities with features that serve students and the local community. Rugged building materials and mass timber design define a sense of place on the school’s Portland campus. Designed to LEED Silver Standards, the center achieves the university’s sustainability goals: embracing renewable low-carbon building technologies, waste diversion, and healthy living and work spaces. Student center amenities include a 300-seat dining hall, student lounge, bookstore, cafe/pub, Career and Employment Hub, and 4,500-square-foot multipurpose room.
West End Apartments, South Portland
Kaplan Thompson Architects
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Jesse Thompson, FAIA
Senior Architect: Danielle Foisy
Architectural Designers: Cara Bionde, Grace Mathieson
Interior Designer: Rachel McBrien
Sustainability Specialist & Certified Passive House Consultant: Kai Fast
Structural Engineer: Thorton Tomasetti
Landscape Architect: Carroll Associates
Civil Engineer: Ransom Consulting
Electrical Engineer: Swiftcurrent Engineering
Mechanical & Plumbing Engineer: Ripcord Engineering
General Contractor: Allied Cook Construction
Photographer: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
We value the effort and thought taken into consideration to create a dignified design for affordable housing. The creative use and deployment of inexpensive materials create a rich texture on the exterior. The details of the windows and articulation on the facade are successfully executed.
From the Architect:
The West End Apartments introduce 116 beautiful, sustainable, and permanently affordable housing units to South Portland, Maine. The buildings advance the West End Neighborhood Master Plan by creating a precedent for an inclusive, diverse, and walkable neighborhood focused on high-performance design and a high quality of living. The structures were designed in partnership with a nonprofit affordable housing developer.
The project prioritized the preservation of the area’s longstanding affordability by creating a new neighborhood center anchored by a mixed-use housing development. The project was designed and constructed in two phases. The first 64-unit building was completed in 2020, and the second 52-unit structure was ready for occupancy in 2023. The unit mix is 80 percent permanently affordable and 20 percent market rate, and there are studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom
apartments. Street-level storefronts and community spaces serve residents who also enjoy an outdoor plaza, on-site laundry, and indoor bike storage.
The buildings nearly achieve Passive House airtightness metrics as well as a 71 percent reduction from the benchmark energy use intensity (EUI), even without renewable energy systems installed. The roofline serves as a “solar mountain” angled for the future installation of photovoltaic panels. The project maintained its original aesthetic intent and provided high-performance housing for low-income households despite strict budget and pandemic-related challenges. The West End Apartments advance the neighborhood’s historic livability and encourage further development of walkable destinations and infrastructure through the infusion of a new population ready to use them.
Husson University College of Business, Bangor
Harriman / Goody Clancy
Citation Award for Excellence in Architecture
Design Principals: Mark D. Lee, AIA (Harriman); Rob Chandler, AIA (Goody Clancy)
Design Team: Jamie Ouellette, AIA, Melissa Metivier, Kathryn Austin, Sharon Ames (Harriman); Olivia Huang, AIA (Goody Clancy)
Civil Engineer: James W. Sewall Company
Acoustic Consulting: Acentech
General Contractor: Sheridan Construction
Photographer: Ryan Bent Photography
From the Jury:
The simplicity of the form and elegance of the standing-seam wrapping the roof and enclosure of the building create a beautiful building.
From the Architect:
Historically anchored in its abundant natural resources and strong manufacturing core, Maine’s economy is experiencing a pivotal transformation, with increasing emphasis on technology and innovation to align with broader global economic trends. Husson University, a longstanding Maine business education leader, is meeting the state’s demand for a technologically skilled workforce with Harold Alfond Hall, a visionary new home for the university’s College of Business.
The design expresses this future-focused mission through a modern interpretation of the state’s agricultural legacy. Metal panels on a steeply pitched roof elegantly transition to vertical standing seams on the building’s facades, providing a modern interpretation of the regional barn vernacular. Inside, a simple materials palette puts the focus on the building’s abundant natural light and sweeping views across campus to the hills beyond.
The building’s program is designed for a unique business education model—one that emphasizes advanced technology, flexibility, and social interaction. Agile workspaces, simulation environments, classrooms with 360-degree teaching capabilities, and the iEX Center, a cutting-edge virtual and augmented reality innovation hub, support new partnerships between academia and industry.
Renovation + Adaptative Reuse
50 Exchange, Portland
Woodhull
Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Patrick Boothe, AIA
Architectural Project Manager: Josh Jacques
Structural Engineer: Intelligent Design
Civil Engineer: Terradyn Consultants
Mechanical & Plumbing Engineer: Ripcord Engineering
General Contractor: Woodhull
Construction Team: Michael Cleary, Shawn Couture, Mark Sturgeon
Photographer: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
Beautiful execution of an adaptive reuse where the structure was able to be salvaged. The fourth level is well executed. The materiality is light and elegantly complements the historic rooftop—an elegant and skillful blend of its history and new life. The architecture doesn’t whitewash the history in the name of restoration. The sensitivity of the discreet positioning of the penthouse is relevant to the building’s presence on the street.
From the Architect:
The transformation of 50 Exchange Street in Portland’s vibrant Old Port district breathed new life into a rich legacy. The rehabilitation of the building, which originally housed jewelry stores and commercial spaces, aimed to create modern residential units while preserving the structure’s rich past.
In 2020 we worked with the building’s owners to explore adding a new story, resulting in two second-floor apartments and two two-story units on the third and newly constructed fourth floor. Through successful occupancy-type transition, federal historic preservation tax credits, and thoughtful design of the apartments, our firm brought the initial vision to fruition.
Over ten months, the construction team meticulously removed the building’s roof and erected an additional floor while adhering to the National Park Service’s esteemed historic rehabilitation standards. The fusion of classic red brick with contemporary aluminum paneling celebrates both heritage and progress. This juxtaposition continues inside, where the apartments blend historic charm like plaster finishes and pine floors with modern elements like ornamental stairs, roof decks, and skylights. As a result, 50 Exchange Street pays homage to the rich history of the Old Port district while ushering it into the twenty-first century with grace and style.
Sweatt-Winter Child Care and Early Education Center, University of Maine at Farmington
CHA
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Robin Tannenbaum
Architectural Designer: Ashley Richards
Interior Designer: Pamela Anderson
Visioning: Ariana Melzer
Natural Playground Designer: Sashie Misner Landscape Architecture
Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, Security Design & Fire Protection Engineer: CHA
Specifications Writer: Kalin Associates
General Contractor: Optimum Construction (building), Taylor Construction (site)
Photographer: Blind Dog Photography
From the Jury:
The programming change from a call center to a childcare center is very compelling. The scale and color of the child-centered spaces are well considered. The materials and art selection, with influences from nature, create a unique space for children.
From the Architect:
A former call center has been transformed into a state-of-the-art, 10,000-square-foot nature-based childcare center at the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF). The Sweatt-Winter Child Care and Early Education Center, a dual-function facility, serves as an accredited nature-based childcare center for infants through six-year-olds and functions as a vital lab school for the UMF’s teacher education program.
While building renovations were limited to the interior, except for new egress doors, the design team sought tools to create a range of scaled experiences within the existing structure’s constraints. The building design creates two separate zones for adults and children, with a central circulation spine running through both. The adult zone contains functional spaces to support school operations: offices, kitchen, laundry, storage, and undergraduate classrooms. The children’s zone creates a child-scaled learning environment. The central circulation opens into a broad, sunny, central multipurpose space linking the four early childhood classrooms. This space provides a location for shared group activities, access to two observation rooms with one-way mirrors into the classrooms, and an area for gross-motor-skill activities during inclement weather.
Each age-specific primary classroom is represented by an iconic residential form, such as a gable, gambrel, sloped roof, or curved roof, creating welcoming entries to each classroom that are echoed inside each room as scaled-down niches for imaginative play and gathering. Two natural playscapes flanking the building cater to the age-appropriate explorations of the adjacent classroom occupants, encouraging children to engage with the natural environment. Biophilic design strategies connect the interior spaces to the outdoors.
Single-Family Residential
A House in Three Parts, Midcoast Maine
Winkelman Architecture
Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
Architects: Joanna Shaw, AIA; Will Winkelman, AIA
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
Landscape Architect: Richardson & Associates
Environmental Consultant: Albert Frick Associates
General Contractor: Hewn Builders, High Seas Builders
Photographer: Jeff Roberts
From the Jury:
There is consistency in the consideration of detail that weaves through all structures. The expression of the roof framing is very compelling. The structure is effortlessly integrated into the site. All the jurors agree that this is a place we’d like to spend time. It has a scale that is very inviting.
From the Architect:
Carefully designed within the 35-acre site, this house is pulled apart into a series of spaces dispersed into the woods with compact, precise insertions. This design choreographs openness, views, and relationships, prioritizing the experiences between built forms and within the wild natural environment. The house was designed for a young family that dreamt of a place to inspire adventure for their kids: summer camp and the comfort of home crafted into one.
Beginning with arrival, the entry tower marks a transition into this home. Its first floor provides a mudroom for shedding gear, bikes, and skis; this space welcomes adventures with friends and family. Above the mudroom, a bunk-tower with loft platforms climbs into the tree canopy, hosting guests and children. A metal ladder and wooden climbing holds playfully connect these vertical layers.
The entry and kitchen are partners in the landscape, lightly linked together with a covered boardwalk. The kitchen provides a social space with cooking, dining, and gathering in the heart of the site. Embraced by topography, its form wraps around a granite ledge, and its roof canopy floats beyond the pavilion’s enclosure, sweeping the groundscape below. Easterly windows welcome light for morning rituals and the first meal together each day. The ebb and flow of stepping apart and coming together inspired this home’s composition.
Our clients desired shared spaces fostering social connection as well as personal retreats. A bedroom cabin for parents and young children connects to the kitchen via a wood boardwalk slicing thinly through the landscape. The parents’ sleeping space pairs with a loft, which opens to an ocean view. As the children grow and seek adventure in the bunk-tower, the loft will become a retreat for meditation.
The interior palette of each space is consistent, simple, and raw, with regionally harvested timbers, granular concrete, and softly textured plaster. Shifting sunlight and views—woods, water, wildlife—are the elements that give these spaces life.
The Overlook, Kingfield
Whitten Architects
Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principal Architect: Russ Tyson, AIA
Associate Architect: Tom Lane, AIA
Project Designer: Drew Bortles
Landscape Architect: Soren deNiord Design Studio
Interior Designer: Heidi Lachapelle Interiors
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
General Contractor & Millwork: Sebastian Tooker Construction
Photographer: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
The simplicity and clarity of this project is commendable. The materials feel “of the place” and have an experiential quality that is richly residential. There’s a sophistication to the detailing on the inside and outside.
From the Architect:
This family-oriented Carrabassett Valley retreat balances a desire for sweeping mountain views with the need for protection from harsh mountain winters as well as privacy from the surrounding popular trail system. Its gabled form echoes traditional alpine shelters, while deeply set openings offer valley views and direct access to the landscape.
Prospect and refuge were guiding principles—balancing protection from and connection with nature. The single elongated structure captures sunlight throughout the day. The large gable efficiently sheds snow away from entrances, offering immediate protection.
Collaboration and adaptability empowered the skilled local builder and craftspeople to create a robust home with a high level of finish that reflects the owner’s vision. Local eastern white cedar shingles, a standing-seam roof, and sustainable western red cedar siding withstand harsh conditions and echo New England traditions. The board-formed concrete base roots the structure to the site. The traditionally clad envelope, featuring a rainscreen system, continuous insulation, and remarkable airtightness, was informed by building science experts to ensure comfort and longevity.
Interiors are zoned by activity. The porte cochere offers refuge during loading, buffering the transition from harsh weather to shelter under the gable. Large sliding doors block wintery gusts and open wide for summer breezes. The gear room organizes the makings of myriad outdoor activities. The sauna offers a retreat for relaxation and self-care. Upstairs, bedrooms and living areas frame curated views from within the shelter, while views from the loft extend perpendicular to the peak across the valley.
The architecture narrates the story of the landscape and region. The central staircase, crafted from local reclaimed elm, branches out to strategically divide public and private spaces. Stone extracted from the site to form the foundation sets the tone for the entire home—from hearth to countertops and fabric schemes.
Pine Cove, Harpswell
Woodhull
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Amit Oza, AIA
Architecture Team: Caleb Johnson, AIA; Stacey Woodworth, AIA; Michael Chestnutt
Landscape Architect: Soren deNiord Design Studio
Landscape Installation: Pinnacle Landscape & Design
Structural Engineer: Casco Bay Engineering
Metalwork: Jim Larson
General Contractor & Millwork: Woodhull
Photographer: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
The detailing within the interior creates rich elements that play with design and color in a beautiful way.
From the Architect:
Settled within the pines and mirroring the shape of a nearby cove, Pine Cove is a trio of buildings designed for exploration and reflection. The design was inspired by its unique location and a pair of artistic, adventurous clients.
From the initial site selection—a collaborative effort to capture the quintessential Maine experience—to the meticulously planned arrival sequence, every element of this home reveals itself with intention. Inside, diverse spaces cater to friend and family gatherings as well as moments of quiet reflection.
The interior is an expression of craft and the owners’ personal stories; inherited family pieces and the clients’ own artwork blend with precise millwork. There is understated honesty in the materials chosen throughout the project; solid wood was almost exclusively used for the millwork.
The building’s form references the cove’s curve, embracing natural outcroppings and stepping lightly across the land. Its vertical siding mirrors the surrounding pines, blurring the lines between architecture and nature. Within this harmonious gesture lies an unwavering precision. From meticulously crafting walnut veneers in the kitchen to sequence-matching hundreds of spline joints on the wood-slat walls, the attention to detail, while subtle, is also unrelenting. This home is about responding to a place and representing the clients’ personality and craft.
Somes Sound House, Northeast Harbor
Baird Architects
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principal Architect: Matthew Baird, FAIA
Architecture Team: Alice W. Chai, Maria Milans del Bosch, Florence Schmitt-Thai
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
Civil Engineer: G.F. Johnston & Associates
Windows: CAOBA
General Contractor: Chris Parsons
Photographer: Elizabeth Felicella
From the Jury:
The interior and exterior work together nicely, and the forms are compelling. The profile of the roof form creates an elegant composition.
From the Architect:
A young family with two kids asked our firm to design an all-season retreat at the edge of Acadia National Park. Baird Architects was encouraged to create a structure that would “sit lightly on the ground,” respecting the beloved natural setting the owners had visited for many years of picnicking and camping.
To accommodate the goal of “a modest expression worthy of the site,” our solution involves a simple L-shaped plan made of two structures connected by a cedar breezeway. One volume is winterized and capable of accommodating the family for colder seasons; the second is a sleeping wing for summer and shoulder season use.
The primary structure is a sloped volume, low and horizontal at the waterside, rising to a vertical, solid expression on the mountain side. The primary bedroom and bathroom are located at the top of this volume. A small sleeping loft is tucked into the eaves of the open-plan dining, kitchen, and living room. A cantilevered overhang protects the living room glazing from excessive western sun in summer and provides shelter from the rain and drizzly fog. The summer wing has two bedrooms connected by a shared bathroom. It is entered from a communicating deck such that all circulation is exterior and protected.
The design constraints of creating an affordable, four-bedroom house in rural Maine were addressed through a selective materials palette. Using a hybrid of winterized and nonwinterized volumes resulted in an efficient cost of construction.
The project is an example of a restrained contemporary vernacular, demonstrating how simple architectural form can express larger, compelling ideas about site, conservation, and environment. This architecture respects and complements its precious natural landscape.
Gable Archipelago, undisclosed
OPAL
Citation Award for Excellence in Architecture
Design Partner: Riley Pratt
Designer: Alex Rosenthal
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Landscape Architect: Richardson & Associates
General Contractor: GO Logic
Photographer: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
The composition and siting are well considered. The way it integrates with the landscape and its integration of sustainability is successful.
From the Architect:
This net-positive year-round Maine residence is a contemporary response to a rugged site and rich local building culture. Referencing vernacular connected buildings, the house assembles three gabled forms joined by a central element with a vegetated roof. The open-plan interior is forthrightly modern, with broad planes of natural-finish wood.
Each of the building’s connected pavilions establishes its own relationship with the hilltop site, adapting to its varied topography to frame ocean views. The interlocking geometry helps to define and shelter the building’s main entry and a broad south-facing deck. The whole, including the foundation and decks, is clad in cedar shingles that unite the separate building forms in a single sculpted mass firmly rooted to the earth.
The building’s exterior materials reflect traditions shaped by the rigors of a coastal environment. The cedar shingle siding and standing-seam metal roof will weather gracefully, give long service, and require minimal maintenance. The building envelope follows Passive House performance levels for insulation, air sealing, and glazing to minimize energy usage and maximize occupant comfort. A grid-tied 16-kilowatt photovoltaic array generates enough electricity to offset not only the house’s total energy demand but also that of the owners’ two additional nearby properties. The occupiable green roof and robust vegetable garden act as biophilic anchors, tying the owners to place and encouraging stewardship of the coastal site.
Studio 84, Harpswell
Kaplan Thompson Architects
Citation Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Phil Kaplan, AIA
Architectural Designer: Ben Bailey
Structural Engineer: Trillium Engineering Group
Solar Energy Consultant & Installation: ReVision Energy
General Contractor: Benjamin & Company
Photographer: Irvin Serrano
From the Jury:
Citation for interiors and programming for use by the community.
From the Architect:
Studio 84 packs practicality and party into an adaptable space designed for creative expression and community events.
Years after completing a net-zero home along Harpswell’s coast, we returned to the waterfront property to design a new accessory structure. The multipurpose space would not quite be a barn or studio, and neither a boathouse nor guesthouse. Instead, it would be all of those things and more, adaptable to every practical and whimsical use the owners might subject it to, including opening it up to the community for both rehearsal and performance. Body, mind, and spirit are nurtured with a woodshop, ceramics studio with a gallery, game room, and steam room.
An open, double-height area on the ground level can be accessed by oversized barn doors to accommodate boat storage. The space often serves as a venue for table tennis tournaments, traveling bands, and lively dance parties. Beats drop from a second-story DJ booth overlooking the room, while spectators revel from the cable-railed gallery wrapping the upper level. On quieter days, the indoor balcony functions as a sunny library. Flexible sleeping quarters invite friends and family to stay a while longer and rest after the last song plays.
The barn creates a dialogue with the site’s existing residence using a shared materials palette and complementary form. Its unique program inspired a volume with two intersecting shed roofs that extend beyond the building’s primary mass to create a screened porch on the water-facing elevation and a boat canopy along the driveway. The canopy’s braces gradually fan outward to mirror the property’s setback, allowing the roof overhang to taper outward at the driveway and clip back toward the building at its opposite end. Exposed hemlock timber framing and pine interiors finish the space with playful geometries and lend a warm, rustic feel to the contemporary form.
Small Projects
Juniper I, Boothbay
Knickerbocker Group
Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Julien Jalbert, AIA
Architecture Practice Leader: Rick Nelson, AIA
Project Manager: Bill Burge
Senior Architectural Designer: Greg Norton
Interior Architecture & Design Practice Leader: Bob Francisco
Interior Design Studio Leader: Kira Eisenzopf
Interior Designer: Samantha Tobia
General Contractor: Knickerbocker Group
Photographer: Jeff Roberts
From the Jury:
Well-executed detailing and finishes with an impressive ambition of budget as it relates to sustainability and accessibility. The transparency, paired with the achievement of energy efficiency, is commendable. The design within such a small footprint is smart.
From the Architect:
As the inaugural build of our Prefabrication Division, Juniper I embodies an art-infused design maximizing light, space, and connectivity to nature. Featuring cutting-edge building and mechanical systems, Juniper I champions biophilic living sustainably. Each Prefab Pod is designed and built in Maine, with 95 percent completed at Knickerbocker Group’s prefabrication facility.
Each Prefab Pod is crafted with Maine’s future sustainability and housing needs at the forefront. Central to the design and build of their Prefab Pods, our team diligently pursues using renewable materials to minimize environmental impact and promote community resilience. Prioritizing local sourcing, we meticulously select natural, sustainable, low-maintenance, low-embodied-carbon, and carbon-sequestering building materials, ensuring both environmental consciousness and longevity.
Each Prefab Pod is built using volumetric construction. The skilled craftspeople handle minimal finish work on-site. We estimate delivery times to be four to six months, a third of traditional on-site construction. The design-build prefabrication team has undergone Kaizen training, which emphasizes continuous feedback and process standardization among prefab teammates throughout the build. With thoughtful design and execution oversight, we ensure enduring quality throughout the continuous improvement process.
Juniper I, a 500-square-foot model, features a harmonious blend of kitchen, living area, bedroom, and bath for comfortable living year-round. Vast triple-pane windows and doors invite nature in, complemented by natural materials fostering biophilic design principles. This all-electric dwelling features dense-pack cellulose insulation, engineered white oak flooring, and locally crafted custom cabinetry, while clever built-in storage solutions maximize space efficiency. Juniper I excels in the art of small living, thoughtfully designed to integrate with its surroundings.
Spring Street, Portland
Gavin Engler Architect
Citation Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Gavin Engler, AIA
Structural Engineer: Lincoln/Haney Engineering Associates
Lead Carpenters: Shane Brennan, Hugh Cook
Cabinetry: David A. Fields Cabinetmaker
Window Restoration: Jung Restoration
General Contractor: Raymond T. Keith Carpentry
Photographer: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
The rigor and attention to detail achieve a clean and beautiful aesthetic.
From the Architect:
Located in Portland’s West End, reimagined interiors transform and optimize the dining, kitchen, pantry, and routine entry of this historic 1867 house for future years of enjoyment. Stripped of a century’s worth of alterations, the design restores and accentuates original details and natural daylighting within the 11-foot-high spaces.
While many aspects of the house suited the family’s needs, the kitchen and back amenity areas, altered multiple times throughout the past 150-plus years, lacked fundamentals of spatial efficiency and natural daylighting. This resulted in awkward and dead-end circulation, unnecessary and ineffective interior doors and partitions, and dark spaces that were further affected by their location within the duplex’s northeast corner. These criticisms formed the underlying basis for the design challenge: produce Boffi-inspired interiors (one of the owners is Italian) that would function well into the future.
The new floor plan removed an excess of interior doors, partitions, and headers while maintaining basic organization around a central stairwell serving the second floor and basement. A new opening was created in the wall between the dining and kitchen spaces, forming a direct circulation path through the house and around the kitchen. All soffits, bump-outs, and areas of dropped ceilings previously built to hide aspects of past alterations were removed. What used to feel like small, cramped spaces now open seamlessly into one another while remaining distinct and purposeful. Natural indirect daylight fills even the deepest interiors thanks to the removals noted, light-toned finishes, and a nine-foot glass entry door that replaced a solid wood door of much shorter height.
Interior detailing was kept to a minimum to showcase items true to the original architecture. Ornate cast-iron radiators were refurbished and reused. An original brick masonry chimney, previously concealed, now contrasts elegantly with the surrounding modern casework and countertop. In the dining room, architectural millwork and original decorative floors, refinished in white, emphasize a bygone era.
Professional Unbuilt
Harbor Residence, St. George
AAmp Studio
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principal Architect & Design Co-Lead: Andrew Ashey, AIA
Design Co-Lead: Anne-Marie Armstrong, AIA
From the Jury:
The building’s form and diagram are clear and create an interesting section. The atmospheric quality of the renderings is very successful.
Project Summary from the Architect:
Nestled along the edge of Penobscot Bay’s shoreline, this residence strategically addresses zoning and coastal guidelines. Constrained by the current structure’s foundation footprint, the design provides water views from all primary spaces and bedrooms, while catering to the requirements of various generations. Drawing inspiration from the surrounding context, the architecture embraces large dormers that punctuate the expansive gable roof and frame the waters beyond. Conceptually, these large dormers form a cube interlocking with the primary gable form.
The home takes a modern approach to vernacular Maine coast design. Externally, the residence is a blend of cedar shake siding and standing-seam metal roofs, integrating with the coastal environment while ensuring durability against the elements. Inside, a blend of white beadboard cladding and warm wood floors creates an inviting atmosphere. Each material and design choice is carefully curated to enhance the space’s aesthetic appeal and functionality, ensuring a harmonious balance between modern design and coastal charm. Sectionally, key moments are celebrated with double-height spaces to capture the view, while others maintain a lower ceiling for spatial intimacy.
Beyond its physical attributes, the house embodies a commitment to resilience, built to withstand the passage of time and preserve its natural surroundings for future generations to enjoy. The home embraces aging in place with spaces designed for live-in care. With two primary suites, inhabitants live on the second floor until their old age welcomes them to the lower level, and the next generation’s family can move in to provide care. From its thoughtful design to its choice of materials, every element reflects a dedication to responsible stewardship of the land and a desire to leave a lasting legacy of beauty and environmental consciousness.
Student Unbuilt
Lowell Makerspace, Massachusetts
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Designers: Luc Thorington, Kyle Sylvester
From the Jury:
The clarity of graphics is concise and creative. There is a high quality of images and renderings that are simple and attractive. The section is beautiful, and the subtly of the linework is well done. The design is ambitious, creative, and beautiful.
From the Student:
The Lowell Makerspace serves as a workshop and exhibition center in Lowell, Massachusetts. Its design honors the city’s history, where the economy and culture were built on the process of weaving. This idea of weaving translates directly into the architecture, where the design aims to interconnect and intertwine Lowell’s community.
The building begins by engaging with the landscape. A large deck wraps around the western facade, extending the Concord Riverwalk to the corner of East Merrimack Street, bringing visitors together along the building’s exterior. A series of terraces create distinct moments throughout the site and form connections with the interior program.
Each space within the building is arranged around a central atrium, prompting visitors to engage in activities around the perimeter and then convene in the center. This constant flow of movement, in and out between these zones, creates opportunities for encounters, engagement, observation, and discussion.
In addition to the spatial arrangement on each level, the building’s vertical design is equally important to the comprehensive experience. Exhibition spaces and a shared, public making space directly engage the community at the ground level. Visitors are introduced to the making process and are given a chance to see the building’s creations on display. On the second level, learning and exposure to making continues, and younger or less experienced makers can engage in introductory classes where they’ll be taught the basic uses and functions of various crafts. The third level reflects the arrangement of these same craft spaces but becomes more advanced in function. Here, experienced makers can work on their own projects independently and without supervision.
Bridging the Gap, Augusta
University of Maine at Augusta
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Designer: Barclay Finck
From the Jury:
The representation is at a consistent, high level with an excellent graphic quality. The simplicity of materials and rational plan is very successful. We like the entry sequence from the side, which is clever.
From the Student:
ARC 408 Community Design Studio students were tasked with designing affordable housing in Augusta. The project brief described a nonprofit organization, Sheltering Families of Central Maine (SFCM), that helps single-parent families transition from homeless shelters to being able to acquire their own housing without the need for financial assistance.
With the understanding of the organization’s mission to help unhoused families, this project intends to bridge the gap for the community, the SFCM organization, and the individuals living in the housing. This is achieved through engagement, performance, accessibility, and livability.
YMCA Summer Camp, Winthrop
University of Maine at Augusta
Citation Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Designers: Ryan Lagasse (lead), Megan Brown, Isaac Austin
From the Jury:
The way the section follows the program and addresses natural lighting is elegant. The split roof element, curving form, and porch create a successful structure for the YMCA camp.
From the Students:
The junior counselor cabin is created with leadership at its core, providing bunk rooms and community spaces that promote growth and education. The site is located within a traditional lakeside summer camp that desires a connection between the environment and the camp atmosphere.
Current senior leadership cabins are disconnected, with no sense of community. The new building facilitates continuity among the community, environment, and camp atmosphere. This is achieved through the integration of tectonics, materials, and views to provide layers of connections throughout the scope of the project.
Throughout the design process, there was a focus on merging simplicity and aesthetic design. Our clients have requested a building for their junior leadership program that focuses on supporting the counselors through their leadership journey. The cabin consists of two separate bunk rooms that join into a large community space. The bunk rooms are designed to have five sets of built-in bunk beds with storage for all personal belongings, accommodating ten counselors per room. Shared spaces include a living area, kitchen, and dining area all located within a central room. A covered porch plays a vital role in this project, providing a space to gather and be protected from the elements.
Architrave Award
Little Hen House, Harpswell
Whitten Architects
The Architrave Award for Excellence in Traditional Design
Principal Architect: Rob Whitten, AIA
Project Designer: Alyssa Moseman
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
Landscape Designer: Tide Walk Designs
Landscape Installation: North Road
Millwork & Furniture: Derek Preble
Masonry: Bullock Stonework
Timber Frame: Seth Gallant
Photovoltaic System & EV Charging: ReVision Energy
General Contractor: Emerald Builders
Photographer: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
Traditional architecture needs to embrace the materials and detailing of the past, but it must also employ historic design principles such as proportion and speak to the history of a place by exploring the architectural vernacular. Little Hen House does all three, creating a timeless beauty characteristic of traditional architecture and making it the clear winner of AIA Maine’s first Architrave Award.
From the Architect:
The design team worked in close collaboration to fulfill the owner’s vision to revitalize the site of a dilapidated island cottage off the coast of Harpswell, including protecting and retaining native blueberries and fruit trees. The result is a collection of energy efficient, finely detailed, and crafted vernacular buildings for living, gathering, and connecting with the local island community.
The owner wanted an efficient home for her active retirement, alongside a barn/community-hub/gallery for island artifacts. Embracing the local vernacular, she sought a blend of careful craftsmanship and timeless design with distinctive details.
The house came first, to anchor the owner’s new full-time island life. Historically, cottages began as modest gable forms. Porches were added, then gradually infilled to meet evolving needs. We aimed to capture that aesthetic without the expense of time. We also reduced the footprint by 20 percent and pulled the building away from rising tides.
The covered entry porch leads through a carefully configured mudroom to reveal an open-plan kitchen/living area with panoramic water views for entertaining. Wider door clearances and pocket doors enhance the maneuverability at ground level, ensuring the owner can age in place. Collaborating with a local artisan, we curated built-in storage to consolidate a lifetime’s collection of books, media, and memories. Upstairs, the bedroom and stairs offer sweeping water views, with a private bath and dressing room tucked into the eaves.
The client’s vision extended beyond the completion of the home. A traditional, heavy timber-frame barn provides an office and garage and serves as a gathering space with a kitchen to host community barn
suppers. Working closely with the town to obtain historical photos, maps, and stories of the island’s rich history, the owner dubbed the loft space the “Little Hen Island Historical Society.”
