Perkins+Will Receives Two Design Awards from the American Institute of Architect’s (AIA) Washington, D.C. Chapter Through Its 2014 Unbuilt Program

Washington, D.C. (June 3, 2014) – The Washington, D.C. office of global architecture and design firm Perkins+Will announces today that it has won two design awards via the AIA Washington, D.C. chapter’s 2014 Unbuilt Program, which recognizes excellence in both commissioned and theoretical unbuilt projects.

Perkins+Will earned the honors for the Franklin School in the District of Columbia, as well as Harvest Housing in Philadelphia.

For the Franklin School, D.C.-based CoStar Group, a leading provider of commercial real estate analytics, information and marketing services, invited Perkins+Will to serve as the architect in an adaptive reuse effort of this abandoned 1869 historic landmark.

Building on the rich history of the school’s administration, architecture and innovative education programs, CoStar proposed to create a new, vibrant training campus designed to support its staff-development activities.

Harvest Housing, meanwhile, resulted from an annual internal competition that Perkins+Will hosts in which teams of one to three professionals have one weekend to produce an architectural design solution to a given problem.

In 2013, the competition called for the design of an affordable-housing community on a dilapidated site in Philadelphia along the Delaware River, which is one of the country’s most historic and important waterways, and provides the basic impetus for the city’s port.

The competition focused around activating the site to generate economic redevelopment, while also considering ways in which the site could get affected by changing water levels.

Functioning as an urban ecosystem where all processes are cyclical and interconnected, Harvest Housing stitches together water, food and social experiences – and is a destination point for the Philadelphia community. The project would include 110 residential units, a fitness center and pool, office and retail space, as well as non-surface parking.

About Perkins+Will
Perkins+Will is an interdisciplinary, research-based architecture and design firm established in 1935 and founded on the belief that design has the power to transform lives and enhance communities. Each of the firm’s 24 offices focuses on local, regional and global work in a variety of practice areas. With hundreds of award-winning projects annually, Perkins+Will is ranked as one of the top global design firms. Perkins+Will is recognized as one of the industry’s preeminent sustainable design firms due to its innovative research, design tools, and expertise. The firm's 1,600 professionals are thought leaders developing 21st century solutions to inspire the creation of spaces in which clients and their communities work, heal, live and learn. Social responsibility is a fundamental aspect of Perkins+Will’s culture, and every year the company donates 1 percent of its design services to pro bono initiatives. For more information, visit www.perkinswill.com.