AIA Baltimore Awards - AIA Baltimore Awards 2021
Exceptional Detail Award
2021-10-27 13:40:20
EXCEPTIONAL DETAIL AWARD
ALFOND COMMONS
AYERS SAINT GROSS
Alfond Commons, a mixed-use, higher education facility, is the flagship component of Colby College’s revitalization investment in downtown Waterville, Maine. The first major project to be completed on Waterville’s Main Street since the 1960s, the building houses 200 students and resident faculty, all of whom agree to serve the Waterville community as a condition of residency. Infilling a parking lot that long disrupted the urban street edge, Alfond Commons completes the downtown cityscape. The building echoes the materiality of Colby’s main campus and complements the local character of Main Street, weaving it into the existing city fabric. Ground-level spaces devoted to recreation, wellness, retail, and a signature community forum activate the street, while a live-learn community that is on the upper levels includes academic space and social lounges.
The Alfond Commons initiative demonstrates how institutions of higher learning can make significant impacts to the urban realm while simultaneously strengthening the social and economic fabric of their community.
JURY COMMENTS
The jury appreciated the fidelity and repetition of the interior cedar trim detail system found on the walls and ceiling, and in different treatments throughout the building. The different treatments deployed in this system envelop the space, define the ceiling and enliven wall surfaces. This detail adds texture and refinement and makes the individual spaces memorable. The wood slats create a material palette family, playing with scale and hierarchy.
OWNER: Colby College | ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM: Ayers Saint Gross – Noah Harburger, AIA; Michelle Kollmann, Assoc. AIA; Nathan Korkki, AIA; Cooper Melton, AIA; Michelle Moseley, Assoc. AIA; Eric Moss, AIA; Kurtis Pung; Kyle Ritchie; Christopher Sellars; Susan Sullivan, AIA; Allison Wilson, AIA; Eric Zahn, AIA | GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Landry/French Construction | MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: Integral Group LLC | PHOTOGRAPHY: Trent Bell
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