2025 AIA Maine Design Awards
19 winning projects through the eyes of architects
Each year, the Maine chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Maine) shines a spotlight on the best architectural work from our state’s design community. From reimagined historical structures to brand-new builds that push the boundaries of sustainable living, the AIA Maine Design Awards program celebrates projects that exemplify thoughtful design, technical rigor, and a commitment to shaping a better built environment.
For the 2025 program, jurors from eastern New York brought their diverse perspectives to the judging table. The Design Awards jury included Beth Lacey of Lacey Architecture, Arien Cartrette of architecture+, Karin Kilgore-Green of JMZ Architects and Planners, and Michael Phinney of Phinney Design Group. For the Architrave Award—created to recognize excellence in traditional design—a separate jury was assembled, including Ira Grandberg of Grandberg and Associates Architects, Michael Tuck of Balzer and Tuck Architecture, and Scott Wallant of Wallant Architecture.
A distinguishing feature of the 2025 awards is the continued emphasis on the AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence, a national initiative that calls on architects to lead the way toward a zero-carbon, equitable, resilient, and healthy built environment. This year’s applicants were offered two submission paths: answering streamlined yes-or-no questions related to the framework’s core principles or submitting the Common App for Design Excellence, a visual and data-driven tool that maps project performance against the framework’s ten measures.
“Every year, the AIA Maine Design Awards program celebrates the best work of Maine-based architects. The 2025 program, like those before, is a testament to our architectural community’s deep commitment to creating beautiful, thoughtful spaces that honor the people and places they serve. Their work not only elevates the profession and enriches communities but also inspires us all to bring more care and intention to the spaces we occupy,” says Jeannette Schram, outgoing executive director of AIA Maine.
While the tools and criteria may evolve, the mission remains constant: to elevate Maine’s architectural excellence. The awards program highlights a wide range of work: a currently enrolled architecture student’s unbuilt project, a Maine firm’s unbuilt project, and commercial, residential, renovation, and adaptive reuse projects designed both in and beyond state lines by AIA Maine members. Whether built or on the boards, honored or not, each submission adds to the broader conversation about what design can—and should—do.
MH+D is proud to present the winners of the 2025 AIA Maine Design Awards.
Institutional & Commercial
Ferland Engineering Education & Design Center, Orono
WBRC / Ellenzweig
Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Leadership: Kristian Kowal, AIA (WBRC); Michael Lauber, FAIA (Ellenzweig)
Architecture Team: David Pelletier, Stefanie Wason, AIA, Jacob Wheeler (WBRC); Eric Mitchell, Bryan Roi, Peter Herman, AIA (Ellenzweig)
Interior Designer: Jenifer Richard (WBRC)
Lab Programmer & Planner: James Blount, AIA (Ellenzweig)
Engineers: WBRC, Thornton Tomasetti
Furnishings: Red Thread
General Contractor: Consigli Construction
Photography: Landon Cornelius, Ron Lisnet, Jeff Roberts
From the Jury:
The Ferland Center does everything well! The building organization, in the context of both the campus and within, is clear and effectively bolstered by thoughtful materials selection and detailing inside and out. Natural and artificial lighting reinforce circulation and ancillary gathering spaces, and even the mechanical penthouse contributes intelligently to the building massing. This project is very skillfully conceived and executed in all facets of design.
From the Architect:
Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center (EEDC) is a collaborative, student-centered building that serves as the heart of the University of Maine’s engineering department. Made possible by a mix of public and private funds, Ferland EEDC was created to support the university’s world-class programs, promote cross-discipline collaboration, and help stem the national shortage of engineers.
Located on the engineering district’s north end, the 107,000-square-foot building combines brick, granite, metal panels, and glazing to harmonize with neighboring buildings while creating a new identity for the College of Engineering and Computing. The building massing steps back on the northeast and south sides to provide a sense of shelter. It features a central glass slot on the north and south facades, conveying the building’s core organizing concept: a three-dimensional thoroughfare known as “Main Street.”
At ground level, Main Street serves as a campus connector: the south entrance opens into a two-story commons with an adjacent cafe; to the north, an expandable welcome center serves as the first stop for visiting schoolchildren and campus tours. Vertically, Main Street utilizes open stairways, additional floor openings, and abundant interior glazing to visually connect the floors above and below. It is illuminated by a 170-foot skylight reaching all three levels. A two-story wood wall defines Main Street’s east side, with an exposed steel frame on the west. On all three levels, Main Street offers “engineering in action,” with views into design studios, teaching labs, and team collaboration rooms.
Designed to LEED Silver standards, Ferland EEDC’s sustainable features include robust heat recovery, fritted glazing to optimize the skylight’s performance, low-impact lighting, efficient water usage, and sustainable materials selection. The building prioritizes energy efficiency, creating a sustainable, engaging center for design, research, and outreach.
Paul J. Schupf Art Center, Waterville
Susan T. Rodriguez | Architecture • Design / OPAL
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Susan T. Rodriguez | Architecture • Design
Architect of Record: OPAL
Architecture Team: Susan T. Rodriguez, FAIA, Mikhail Grinwald, AIA, Josh Homer, AIA, Lucy Flieger (Susan T. Rodriguez | Architecture • Design); Shamika Khare, Timothy Lock, AIA, Alexandra Pagan, Associate AIA, Alex Rosenthal, Erinn Simmons (OPAL)
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Civil Engineer: Sebago Technics
Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing (MEP) & Fire Protection (FP) Engineer: Altieri Sebor Wieber
Cost Estimator: Preferred Construction Management Company
Audiovisual, IT & Security: Harvey Marshall Berling Associates
Graphic Design: H+ Creative
Lighting: Brandston Partnership Inc.
General Contractor: Landry/French Construction
Photography: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
This project is a sophisticated solution to a complex program and urban context: it simultaneously and successfully engages the street, Castonguay Square, and the existing Opera House building both visually and physically, while providing adequate circulation for multiple assembly spaces. The materials palette and detailing make balanced and tasteful references to the existing adjacent buildings but still create a stimulating, contemporary look and feel.
From the Architect:
The Paul J. Schupf Art Center is a beacon for the arts in downtown Waterville. The project transforms a historic site on Main Street into a dynamic new center for the arts at a unique civic intersection. Building upon the foundations of an early-twentieth-century structure, the project is central to an initiative led by Colby College and Waterville Creates (a community arts consortium) to reinvest in the city’s downtown district and forge stronger connections with the nearby campus. The building activates a community crossroads and celebrates the role of the arts in revitalizing the city.
A diverse range of local arts organizations in film, drama, music, dance, and the fine arts—once dispersed throughout the downtown district—are unified here under one roof in the heart of the city. Drawing visitors from near and far, the center creates a collective identity for the arts and supports intergenerational community programming. Spaces include a new contemporary gallery for the Colby College Museum of Art, a gallery for local artists, an art classroom, a pottery studio, a rehearsal space, three screening rooms, a box office, and a cafe. The center is also home to the Maine International Film Festival.
Weaving together old and new, the contemporary building completes the historic block on Main Street. A new glass bridge connects the center to the 800-seat Opera House in the adjacent early twentieth-century city hall. A composition of masonry and glass, the primary facade features an overlook from which to experience downtown. A two-story lobby and gathering space are accessible to the public throughout the year. The design draws inspiration from Waterville’s heritage as a mill town, incorporating industrial materials including concrete, steel, metal, and local brick.
The Smith Center for Education & Research, Freeport
OPAL
Citation for Excellence in Architecture
Management Partner: Timothy Lock, AIA
Project Manager: Gabe Tomasulo, AIA
Architectural Designer: Dan Rodefeld
Landscape Architect: Ann Kearsley Design, Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture
Interior Designer: Molly Quesada
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Civil Engineer: Thomas Fowler
MEP Engineer: Taitem Engineering
General Contractor: Zachau Construction
Photography: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
The jury admired the simple forms and plan. The architecture is subtle and economical but cleanly detailed, and interior spaces are bright, flexible, and functional. Using the entry sequence and landscape as a kind of exhibit was a nice touch.
From the Architect:
The Smith Center for Education and Research arose from a master planning process initiated in 2014. A dedicated space became essential as the organization expanded its offerings, particularly educational programs and events promoting local, sustainable agriculture. The challenge was to create a flexible assembly space entirely within the disturbed footprint of a relocated dairy barn while maintaining open movement and undisturbed views across the meadow that overlooks grazing pastures and the ocean.
The facility provides a permanent home for public meetings and educational programs once held in temporary structures; Wolfe’s Neck, primarily a farm, also hosts extensive youth education and large-scale culinary events celebrating local food there. The new facility supports expanded programming, featuring a large event space, a breakout living room and reception area, and a commercial kitchen. Two multiuse classrooms enhance small-group educational opportunities. A compact service bar separates the building’s two halves, housing systems, storage, gender-neutral restrooms, and a nursing area. This bar defines equitable access to both program spaces, ensuring seamless entry from multiple directions within the surrounding landscape. The design modernizes while respecting its formal place among the taxonomic aggregate of existing agrarian structures dotting the coastal meadow.
Renovation & Adaptive Reuse
Sweetwater Residence, Standish
BRIBURN
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Harry Hepburn, AIA
Project Lead: Samuel Day
Project Manager: Rowan Sloss
Interior Designer: SkyMore Construction
Landscape Architect: Soren deNiord Design Studio
Structural Engineer: Structural Integrity Consulting Engineers
General Contractor: SkyMore Construction
Photography: François Gagné
From the Jury:
The redesign of this home dramatically transforms both the appearance and resident experience using only the existing footprint. The creation of multiple social spaces accommodates various nodes of activity appropriate, and perhaps necessary, for entertaining guests and extended family while maintaining views and lakefront access for everyone.
From the Architect:
Located on the shores of Sebago Lake, the existing split-level ranch home, built in 1968, served as a primary residence until our client purchased the property in 2021. The newly transformed home will serve the new owners, and their extensive family and friends, for many years to come. From the road, the existing facade recedes behind a new entry addition that welcomes guests with ample space to drop their shoes and their bags and prep for the beach. However, from the lakeside, this home opens up and reveals a multitude of spaces for entertainment, both indoors and out.
The upstairs area includes the great room with a large kitchen and pantry, dining and family rooms, three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and a new outdoor deck area that connects to both the primary bedroom suite and the great room. The lower level has two additional bedrooms, a bunk room, two bathrooms, and a large game room with a 30-foot-wide folding door. There is also a large outdoor kitchen and dining area connected to a sauna, outdoor shower, and interior wet zone that supports laundry and changing.
The exterior wall and roof at the kitchen, dining, and living areas were angled and expanded to refocus views toward the water, and very large operable doors were added on both levels to blur the lines between interior and exterior spaces.
Woodhull Headquarters, Portland
Woodhull
Citation Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principal Architects: Caleb Johnson, AIA, Patrick Boothe, AIA, David Morris, AIA
Project Architect: Anna Pajulo
Interiors Architect: Stacey Woodworth, AIA
Landscape Architect: Soren deNiord Design Studio
Mechanical Design/Build: Mash Mechanical
Carpentry & Millwork: Woodhull
Electrical Contractor: JM Electric
Historic Building Consultant: Margaret Gaertner
Lighting: Reflex Lighting
General Contractor: Woodhull
Construction Team: Michael Cleary, Nate Barrett, Mike Weston, Jason Dill
Photography: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
Not only did this adaptive reuse project painstakingly restore existing elements, but the newly added details (glass partitions, lighting, kitchen cabinets, and bathroom finishes) tastefully respect the original character of the building. The architects also managed to accommodate quite a number of workstations without significantly altering the flow.
From the Architect:
Woodhull transformed the 1858 Safford House into a modern office while prioritizing historic preservation. The intent was to create a workspace reflecting Wood- hull’s growth while honoring the building’s architectural legacy and adhering to National Park Service guidelines for historic rehabilitation.
Programming requirements included all aspects to introduce modern office functionality within the historic structure. The design integrated restored original features, like the grand staircase and arched doorways, with contemporary elements such as custom walnut or ash millwork, modern LED lighting, in-floor power for workstations, and contemporary furniture. Challenges, including unexpected existing mechanical system failures at the start of construction, were overcome through careful budget management and creative problem-solving. The execution of the project through the collaboration of the architects, construction and millwork build team, financial partners, subcontractors, and consultants was an exercise of patience and humility for all parties.
The project’s impact extends beyond Woodhull, benefiting the community through job creation, rotating art exhibitions, and the preservation of a historic landmark. The building’s unique brownstone exterior, a rarity in Maine, as well as its connection to Portland’s maritime history distinguish this project.
By choosing renovation over new construction, Woodhull prioritized sustainability, upgrading to energy-efficient systems and preparing for EV charging. The project’s success demonstrates the power of thoughtful design to bridge the past and future, creating a vibrant and functional space for Woodhull and a valuable asset for the community.
Single-Family Residential
The Honeycomb Cottage, Edgecomb
Knickerbocker Group
Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Julien Jalbert, AIA
Architecture Practice Leader: Rick Nelson, AIA
Senior Project Designer: Scott Stark
Senior Interior Designer: Leah Lippmann, AIA
Interior Designer: Ashley Lowe, Nanette Tanner
Landscape Architecture Practice Leader: Kerry Lewis
Landscape Architect: Carson Douglas Landscape Architecture
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
General Contractor: Knickerbocker Group
Photography: Jeff Roberts
From the Jury:
What a stunning cottage! The siting, massing, and materials all work effectively to create a highly impactful experience, both from the tidal river and from within. The individual black boxes perched on concrete plinths exhibit an enchanting playfulness while simultaneously giving prominence to the land and the trees. The interior is cozy and warm yet refined, offering perfectly balanced views of the water.
From the Architect:
The Honeymoon Cottage is a low-impact retreat designed for a newlywed couple seeking an immersive experience in Maine’s coastal forest. As a continuation of a multiproject collaboration between the clients and Knickerbocker Group, the design reflects a deep commitment to craftsmanship, sustainability, and enduring quality.
The structure consists of three distinct “pods” connected by glazed bridges, creating a sequence of intimate yet unified spaces. By anchoring directly to the site’s ledge and minimizing the foundation footprint, the design preserves the existing landscape while reducing environmental disturbance. The cantilevered forms combined with the minimalist structure create an impression of floating above the forest floor.
The materials palette was selected for durability, performance, and environmental sensitivity. Locally produced black shou sugi ban siding, combined with a dark bronze metal roof, ensures lasting protection while harmonizing with the wooded surroundings. Expansive floor-to-ceiling glazing optimizes daylighting and passive solar gain, reinforcing a connection between interior and exterior spaces.
Inside, a refined Douglas fir interior envelops the space, bringing warmth and tactile richness. Every detail—from custom millwork to floating design elements (including the fireplace, bathroom vanity, shelving, and lighting)—reinforces a sense of lightness and continuity with the surrounding landscape. Natural materials, handmade tile, and solid stone provide grounding, while a carefully balanced color palette amplifies the calming, nature-inspired ambiance.
Designed for adaptability and lasting performance, the cottage’s modular approach allows it to evolve with the owners’ needs. A combination of passive design strategies, high-performance insulation, and energy-efficient systems ensures the home remains comfortable and efficient through Maine’s seasonal extremes. The Honeymoon Cottage exemplifies how a small-scale residence can have an outsized impact—minimizing environmental disruption while maximizing architectural experience.
The Narrows, Downeast
Whitten Architects
Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principal Architect: Rob Whitten, AIA
Senior Associate: Will Fellis
Interior Designer: Kelly Healy
Landscape Architect: Emma Kelly Landscape
Landscape Installation: Atlantic Landscape Construction
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
General Contractor: Hewes & Company
Photography: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
The Narrows is so well executed that one can almost miss how successful the architect was in crafting it. It makes architecture seem easy when, in fact, the siting, topography, circulation, views, landscaping, and scale are a complex solution set for a modern plan clad in well-detailed vernacular forms and materials. It exudes a smart, wholesome, timeless, and livable character effortlessly connected to its surroundings.
From the Architect:
The project embodies a holistic approach to sustainability, integrating site-specific design, passive design principles, durable natural materials, native landscaping, and biophilia to craft a long-lasting generational home in downeast Maine.
The design for the Narrows navigates between contrasting environments: dense native woodland at the top of the site gives way to sweeping pastoral hay fields along the riverbank. Whitten Architects varied the massing and chose natural materials to reduce visual intrusion through the transition.
Extra efforts were made to minimize disturbances to natural topography, vegetation, and existing drainage patterns. The structure is nestled low within the existing slope to disappear as the siding weathers over time. The multilevel configuration centers around a sunken, single-story “living” core flanked by two bedroom wings, one half a level up and the other half a level down. This protects the northern elevation from prevailing winter winds, opening living spaces toward the south, the water, and the sun. The varied massing also creates privacy between sleeping quarters for the owners’ frequently visiting children and grandchildren.
Green Haven, Westport Island
Woodhull
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principal Architects: Caleb Johnson, AIA, David Morris, AIA
Architect: Lydia Mather
Interiors Architect: Stacey Woodworth, AIA
Project Manager: Joshua Jacques
Interior Designer: Woodhull
Landscape Architect: Soren deNiord Design Studio
Landscape Installation: Pinnacle Landscape & Design
Structural Engineer: Intelligent Design Engineering
Mechanical Engineer: Ripcord Engineering
Millwork: Woodhull
General Contractor: Woodhull
Photography: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
The entry and circulation sequence for Green Haven seems to create a wonderfully seamless experience, one that is carefully planned down the hill through landscape elements, creating habitable places along the way. A similar process happens inside, circulation leading past beautiful spaces, down the stairs, and emerging once again to the exterior. Both the interior and exterior materials palettes and details are durable and precise, reinforcing the nature of each place along the path through the project.
From the Architect:
Nestled into a wooded hillside, overlooking a cove flowing into the Sheepscot River, this home’s design hinges on a single, compelling view. That river vista became the organizing principle of the project, dictating design choices from the initial site concept onward. The building and its entrances were placed deliberately to the side, prioritizing the experience of the view above all else.
The clients envisioned a comfortable yet elegant retreat for two, with plenty of space to entertain guests. Their goals were clear: an open, clean plan, modern warmth, and a streamlined style drawing inspiration from Scandinavian and midcentury design. Expansive windows and glass were paramount, inviting natural light and framing the surrounding landscape. The clients sought a low-maintenance landscape emphasizing outdoor living with transitions from indoor to outdoor spaces. The kitchen and primary suite were to be focal points, designed with a comfortably large scale.
The more private rooms curve around the site, framing the cove’s ever-changing tides. The daily ebb and flow become a quiet, intimate spectacle. Inside and out, carefully crafted decorative motifs echo the textures of the surrounding landscape. Stone, wood, and glass blend seamlessly, creating a sense of harmony and cohesion. It’s a home where the architecture serves the land, not vice versa, offering a tranquil retreat deeply rooted in its natural setting. The clients sought a connection to the river, and the finished project delivers that, framing their daily lives with the beauty of the Sheepscot. The large windows and outdoor living areas create the seamless transition from inside to outside that they desired.
The Outpost, Isle au Haut
30X40 Design Workshop
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principal Architect: Eric Reinholdt, AIA
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
Photography: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
The Outpost exemplifies a common theme among project award winners: excellent siting and careful use of simple, well-detailed forms to create space, views, and efficient circulation while relying on regional materials. This project is unique in that it accomplishes this, producing a remarkable variety of spaces and associated experiences, with such an economical footprint.
From the Architect:
The Outpost began with a couple’s desire to return to the remote Maine island where they were married, creating a low-maintenance retreat for reconnecting with nature and hosting family. The site’s harsh maritime conditions and limited construction access informed the firm’s design decisions.
Four distinct cedar-clad volumes sit lightly on the landscape, responding to topography, creating protected microclimates, and minimizing site disturbance. The barn and workshop area anchors the northern edge, blocking prevailing winds; the living pavilion sits between a cedar forest to the west and the open Atlantic to the east; and the primary bedroom projects eastward to receive morning light, while a multifunctional southern flank adapts to guest sleeping, yoga, or light work. The screened porch, a destination in summer, marks the compound’s southern edge.
The design mimics the site’s natural contrasts—forest to ocean—from the compressed, low entry, bathing, and circulation spaces to the open, soaring living volumes. Dark stone and glass create serene bathing spaces in contrast to the sweeping ocean views. Decks serve as transition and flexible gathering spaces, allowing the owners to inhabit the site in different ways as weather conditions shift. On the exterior, unfinished local white cedar is left to weather as tree bark. Inside, the local white oak floor warms neutral wall and ceiling surfaces while reflecting the ever-changing coastal light. Details emerge from function: boards are spaced for modular hooks and shelving, and cabinetry doubles as partitions and storage or conceals an additional bed.
30X40 Design Workshop publicly shared the project’s design and construction process on YouTube (garnering more than 5.7 million views worldwide) to actively educate people who may never work with a design professional. This effort directly addresses the profession’s challenge of making architectural value transparent, showing how thoughtful design solves real- world problems—not by imposing upon challenging sites, but by revealing what was already there.
Fern House, Belgrade
Winkelman Architecture
Citation Award for Excellence in Architecture
Founding Principal: Will Winkelman, AIA
Principal Architect: Eric Sokol
Landscape Architect: Richardson & Associates
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
General Contractor: LP Homes
Photography: Jeff Roberts
From the Jury:
Fern House is a magical and entirely deferential response to the site—the boulders, the trees, the grass, the topography—effectively creating a sense of exploration in the woods. The scale of the overall mass is reduced by the smaller formal components that mimic the landscape, including the use of the vegetated roof over the kitchen and living room area.
From the Architect:
Among the ferns and trees on this steep site, a young family envisioned making their year-round home a facet of its surroundings: a place that balances warm, comfortable interior spaces with a clear connection to the surrounding landscape and rippling water. The land is strewn with massive boulders, remnants of receding glaciers from thousands of years ago now covered with moss and ferns. Instead of blasting them into pieces and hauling them away, the house was sited to nestle among them and look into and around them. Great care was taken to document the boulders and work the footprint of the house around them, absorbing them in the surroundings.
The primary challenge was how to allow comfortable arrival at the upper level/high side of the home where the bedrooms are, while still maintaining a close connection to the landscape, fern clusters, and path to the lake on the lower level/downhill side. To address this, an “inverted” plan emerged, placing shared spaces on the daylight lower level below the entry.
A tall, light-filled arrival space on the second floor was developed, which leads intuitively down the bright, open stairwell to the shared living spaces on the first floor. Vegetated roofs, planted thick with ferns to blend into the surroundings, cover these lower spaces and are supported by heavy timbers salvaged from an old matchstick factory. To prevent the sunken spaces from feeling dark and underground, the entry hall was stretched taller and constructed as a light well to grab sunlight and pull it into the spaces below.
Large windows on the water side share views of the lake filtered through trees and look over the tops of the “yard” of pine needles and fern-covered boulders in the foreground, deliberately blurring the distinction between inside and outside.
Notch House, Franconia, New Hampshire
Paul Designs Project
Citation Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Architect: Paul Lewandowski, AIA
Project Leader: Andrew Treworgy
Structural Engineer: Structural Integrity Consulting Engineers
General Contractor: Jamie Meyers
Photography: Jamie Salomon, Andrew Treworgy
From the Jury:
This project is an excellent case study in the artistic use of materials, light, and craftsmanship to define form and function. The development of the massing from the mountains beyond is effective, leading to an efficient floor plan and lovely views throughout.
From the Architect:
The clients purchased a parcel of land in New Hampshire with an incredible view of Mount Lafayette and the Franconia Notch and wished to build their home there. The striking profile of the mountains became the inspiration for the massing of the house: the small second floor responds to Mount Lafayette, and the glass bridge that connects the primary bedroom suite to the main house is a built reference to the notch.
The house features two bedroom suites (one primary and one mother-in-law) and two bedrooms, along with an office and a gym. The central living area has three 8- by 12-foot windows that capture the view of the mountains.
The facade of the house is clad with ten 4- by 10-foot plasma-cut Corten steel panels that are backlit and cut with a pattern designed by the architect featuring pine-bough medallions. To the left of the entrance, there is a panel of natural tree bark. The second floor, a partially cantilevered box, is clad on the underside with ipê wood inspired by the framing of traditional mountain cabins.
The plan is organized around a central corridor with windows at either end. This spine becomes an organizing element of the house. The stair to the second floor is an open riser with a custom perforated metal mesh railing. In the kitchen, skylights over the back wall allow light to come into the house and illuminate the counter. The central roof is a slightly pitched flat roof that has four scuppers. During rainstorms, the scuppers channel water in gentle arcs to the rain garden.
Squid Cove, Mount Desert
Kaplan Thompson Architects
Citation Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principal Architect: Phil Kaplan, AIA
Senior Project Architect: Adam Wallace, AIA
Architectural Designers: Meg Bunke, Zaccaria Farid
Senior Interior Designer: Rachel Redfearn
Landscape Architect: Coplon Associates
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
Environmental Testing: Atlantic Resource Consultants
Masonry & Stonework: Mark Abourjaily Stone Construction
Renewable Energy Systems Installer: Solar Logix
General Contractor: Peacock Builders
Photography: Irvin Serrano
From the Jury:
This house design demonstrates a nice balance of shape and massing skillfully integrated into the landscape. The detailing is very clean, and the interior spaces and materials are surprisingly bright and airy without sacrificing function.
From the Architect:
For decades, the clients rented a house in Acadia National Park to occasionally slip away for hiking, mountain biking, and sailing. In 2021 they purchased 15 acres on Mount Desert Island to facilitate longer and more frequent visits that would eventually transition to a permanent stay. The narrow property connects a sheltered cove on the east with an open bay to the west. Setbacks from both shorelines and the parcel’s many wetlands limit buildable areas on the expansive parcel to just a few waterfront locations. With two coastlines to consider for homesites, the owners chose to embrace both.
Coveside, a boathouse offers respite from mosquitoes on its screened porch and stores a small sailboat between day trips. To the west, a new residence unfolds along the bay’s craggy edge. A stand of spruce shelters the building from the wind and waves, filtering 180-degree views through its trunks. The building mirrors this phenomenon and presents as a series of solids and voids alternately opening to the environment and shielding more intimate spaces. Primary living areas cluster within two gabled masses bridged by a glassy connector. A continuous clear ribbon of floor-to-ceiling windows and a 20-foot sliding door system wrap the lower level of the water-facing facade and defy the weight of the peaks above.
Each gabled form skews toward a unique viewshed, staggering the interior’s open floor plan enough to create a sense of seclusion in rooms with no doors between them. Traveling through the home evokes a sense of exploration as one finds places to hide in plain sight or discovers new spaces around each corner. Reaching the respite of second-story sleeping accommodations requires journeying across a buoyant catwalk spanning the double-height central connector. Triple-glazed skylights bathe the elevated walkway and den below in southern sun.
Adapting the design live, on-site, to respond to conditions that could not readily be measured unlocked additional opportunities for the building to interact with its context and ultimately provided the owners with a deeper sense of connection to the island.
Tidehead Woods House, Coastal Maine
Whitten Architects
Citation Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principal Architect: Russ Tyson, AIA
Senior Associate: Will Fellis
Architect: Natalie Paul
Architectural Designer: Jimmy Strong
Interior Designer: Heidi Lachapelle Interiors
Landscape Architect: Sarah Witte, Keith Smith
Landscape Installation & Masonry: Stoney Brook Landscaping & Masonry
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
Cabinetry: Northe Woodworking
Lighting: AVDG Lighting
Metalwork: Italian Green Design
General Contractor: Wright-Ryan Homes
Photography: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
The Tidehead Woods House is a great example of accomplishing a lot with a little. The simple floor plan and building form afford excellent views of the site throughout and organize major functional components—the entry, social space, and private space—in an efficient and purposeful manner.
From the Architect:
Whitten Architects was tasked with creating an efficient, repeatable plan for three siblings’ “Woods Houses.” The layout and exterior materials had to be consistent, while the interior finishes were tailored to each family. The homes form part of a wider project that includes an anchor home for the grandparents connected to shared recreation spaces.
The “sibling” structures were designed to inherit select architectural traits from the DNA of the main house, creating a cohesive environment. Working in collaboration with the landscape architect and civil engineer, the architects created a composition for each of these structures to live both as a family and independently.
The project’s design revolves around the concept of coexistence with nature while catering to a large family with an active outdoor lifestyle. Interior spaces are connected to the surrounding landscape with large windows, multiple thresholds, and natural materials.
The owners wanted the homes to blend with the coastal Maine landscape, aging gracefully with minimal maintenance. Landscape architects selected local granite and native plants, blurring the boundary with nature. Natural and durable thermally modified ash siding and decking, local eastern white cedar shingles, and galvanized steel columns will disappear into the weathered gray woods over time.
West End Garden House, Portland
BRIBURN
Citation Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principal Architect: Christopher Briley, AIA
Project Architect: Samuel Day
Structural Engineer: L&L Structural Engineering
General Contractor: Wright-Ryan Construction
Photography: François Gagné
From the Jury:
The jury loved the idea and execution of developing this facade—reminiscent of a Japanese shoji screen—directly from a sustainable approach to energy conservation. These details, along with the compact, efficient floor plan and gardens in a more urban site, are quite lovely.
From the Architect:
Ground-up residential projects often start with a blank slate—a vacant lot or a quiet patch of woodland. This house, situated in Portland’s historic West End, began its journey on an existing garden plot. Nestled within one of Maine’s oldest and most cherished neighborhoods, this verdant oasis provided a unique and inspiring touchstone for the project.
The garden had been well maintained for decades and was now a visual staple of the neighborhood. It provided a natural respite for pedestrians navigating the dense, suburban fabric of the West End. Going forward, the main objective was to design a house that would remain in dialogue with its surrounding landscape. The design team began by locating the house on the south-western end of the lot, preserving as much vegetation as possible while also forming a central patio space that gives a direct, landscaped connection to the owner’s existing home nearby (now occupied by extended family). Next, the design team worked closely with the owner to minimize the building footprint and increase green space. These two opening design moves were simple but fundamental to the project’s successful integration with the garden.
Recognizing the client’s meticulous attention to the garden, BRIBURN agreed it was essential to design an exterior that would match this level of discipline. A durable exterior cladding layout that combines wood species, textures, and colors was developed to introduce another natural pattern within the landscape. The lapped siding is black locust, a domestic, durable hardwood with varying grain patterns, stained a light silver to help “pre-age” its complexion and complement the surrounding greenery. To add contrast, the darker stained cedar battens set a vertical rhythm across the facade. These horizontal and vertical lines define a module, which in turn helps generate the exterior features of the house.
Professional Unbuilt
East View, Portland
Juniper Design + Build
Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
Project Designer: Rachel Conly, Associate AIA
Landscape Architect: Callahan + LeBleu
Structural Engineer: Dovetail Consulting
Civil Engineer: Sevee & Maher Engineers
Mechanical Engineer: BuildingWorks
From the Jury:
East View is a masterful use of a very constrained site using humble forms and elegant details. The design provides spaces throughout for meaningful interaction of residents, while privacy is always only a few steps away.
From the Architect:
The clients wanted to create a welcoming family retreat on an island in Casco Bay. Their goal was a modestly sized home that would harmonize with the beauty of the natural surroundings. The home is also designed and built to maximize environmental sustainability and minimize carbon footprint. However, the site has complicated zoning, with shoreland overlay, flood zone, and wetlands to consider, which challenged the team to build for future sea-level rise and storm surges.
The forms and scale of the house and landscaping are designed to nest into and follow the property’s gentle upward slope. This led to three primary massings for the home design. The primary gabled roof form contains an open floor plan with living and dining areas and a kitchen, and two cubic wings contain sleeping quarters, with the principal suite to the south and children’s and guest rooms to the west. Indoor-outdoor rooms are fundamental to the design. The house, porches, and yard are terraced spaces that feel interconnected. Decks are intentionally designed low to grade without railings to maintain unobstructed views.
The resulting design is an unforgettable, environmentally responsible building, easily up to the challenge of enduring its seaside location.
Subterranean Car Barn, Castine
Elliott Architects
Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
Principal Architect: Corey Papadopoli, AIA
Project Architect: Buzzy Cyr
Renderer: Devin Dobrowolski
Landscape Architect: Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
Civil & Wetlands Engineer: Atlantic Resource Consultants
From the Jury:
This “car barn” relies on a simple parti along with a robust study of materials to create a wonderfully interesting object in the landscape. The formal components—orthogonal cubes and a straight wall—are clearly manmade but have a temporal essence (floating and fading) while concrete, Corten steel, and earth give a sense of the permanence and strength of the natural world. This seemed to be an appropriate juxtaposition for the dual-purpose structure.
From the Architect:
Conceived as a ruin claimed by the land, the design intent is to reduce the visual impact from the road. Turning its back on the public view, a large concrete retaining wall provides the means to shape the meadow and drape it around the structure while keeping the entry hidden. From the grassy hillside, four pods arise clad in Corten steel screens. Perforations in the Corten provide visual depth, allowing light in during the day and out at night, the only intrusion into the hermetically sealed envelope. Furthermore, the remains of an abandoned orchard will be infilled to provide a layered veil in front of the building.
The structure is designed to house two seemingly incongruous activities: a garage on one end and support spaces for a hydroponic farm on the other. To minimize the structure’s footprint, car storage was designed to be vertical, with three cars stacked within a single bay. Three bays accommodate the stacked cars, plus an additional one in front, for a total capacity of 12 cars. Proximate to the garage, the green roof covers an area that houses the farm inside a shipping container. The fourth bay contains a kitchen, refrigeration, and an office for a nonprofit organization associated with the farm.
From the exterior, a limited palette of materials emerges that includes concrete, Corten steel, and weathered wood. The meadow weaves between them, binding the four pods into a unified structure that emerges from the hillside like a modern Baths of Caracalla. All materials are designed to weather and endure, transformed by the inexorable forces of nature. Architecture is constantly engaged in a futile battle with gravity and time; this structure surrenders to the inevitability of both, relinquishing control from the hand of the architect and allowing for an indeterminate outcome.
Student Unbuilt
Computational Craftsmanship
Syracuse University
Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture
Designer: Andrew Clark
From the Jury:
This project exercises remarkable restraint, relying on the simple barn form and timber-frame construction and instead inspires occupants in their craft by exploring artistic and innovative material assemblies for the foundations, cladding, and site elements. The result is a beautiful yet functional building design for a maker space.
From the Student:
This project imagines a reality where computational designers and traditional regional craftspeople live in a symbiotic relationship, relying on each other to advance both disciplines. Through this research, crafts that were thought extinct in the early twenty-first century are revitalized and utilized in tandem with digital techniques that emerged after the twenty-first century. Specifically, this research focuses on one region of the United States, coastal New England, utilizing local crafts embedded in the culture.
This project interrogates the interstitial space between local analog craft practices and global digital design and fabrication processes, allowing spaces to develop unique characteristics based upon their people’s diverse intangible cultural and ancestral heritage while not being fully reliant upon tools of the past. This research materialized into a makerspace embedded with material and site history, utilizing and optimizing reclaimed materials over “new.” The seamless integration of computation alongside craft eases the navigation of complexities and unpredictabilities of reclaimed material. The timber-frame structure itself promotes the exploration of the very tools that were used to construct it. Artisans are encouraged to engage with architectural form in innovative ways, fostering communal ownership, inclusivity, and the intertwining of cultural resonance with computational precision. The space revitalizes heritage while advancing responsible design; it reconceptualizes materials as active agents and unlocks the latent potential of site-specific resources.
The Architrave Award
Falls Pasture, Southern Maine
Whitten Architects
The Architrave Award for Excellence in Traditional Design
Principal Architect: Rob Whitten, AIA
Project Architect: Richard Collins
Architect: Natalie Paul
Interior Designer: Mia Carta Design
Landscape Architect: Richardson & Associates
Structural Engineer: Albert Putnam Associates
Case Goods & Millwork: Derek Preble
Lighting: Charron Reflex
General Contractor: Bowley Builders
Photography: Trent Bell
From the Jury:
Falls Pasture is in the tradition of a utilitarian farmhouse that sits lightly on its site. Without trying to make a fancy architectural statement, it quietly integrates what appear to be native, low-water plantings, generous, delicately detailed porches, and comfortably understated living spaces into a functional, open floor plan. Interior details seem carefully thought out, and the furnishings are modern but not ostentatiously so. The jury expressed some concerns about the front elevation but felt that overall this was a successful and beautifully rendered project.
From the Architect:
This project encompasses a main house, garage/barn, ADU, and courtyard gardens that were designed to house three generations of a family and their dogs, creating a classic mix of traditional, intergenerational living with exquisite detailing and a deep connection to nature. The land was purchased with the capacity for three lots. Collaborating with landscape architects, the firm reconfigured the subdivision to maximize the home’s potential. The end lot was selected for its proximity to tranquil waterfalls and excellent solar expo- sure, then neighboring lots were adjusted for privacy. This positioned the sheltered entry to the north and opened living spaces to the south, capturing sunlight throughout the day.
Site plans initially involved a single-family, three-bedroom home connected to a barn. Midway through the design process, updated building codes allowed an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), which was incorporated as a barn “extension.” Fulfilling emerging needs for the daughter’s family, the close yet separate quarters offer views of the falls across the garden and a short commute for family connection.
The north-facing courtyard, framed by a traditional dry-stone wall, provides a formal sense of arrival. A long, covered porch transitions between entrances for the barn, ADU, and main house, and separates the entry from private gardens beyond. Steps are adaptable for ramped access, accommodating aging in place. The main home, a classic New England gabled structure, features elegantly sloped dormer “extensions” on the second floor, and single-story side “extensions” at ground level, evoking a sense of history and knitting the new home into the surrounding Maine vernacular.
The project embodies a holistic approach to sustainability, integrating site-specific design, passive design principles, durable natural materials, native landscaping, and biophilia to craft a long-lasting intergenerational homestead in southern coastal Maine.