| Volume 10, No. 3 - April 8, 2016 |
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 Liberty Crest, by the Alexander Company(more info) |
MTFA Takes International |
| AIA Northern Virginia is Moving |
 As of May 1, our new address will be 1101 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.After 28 years at 205 South Patrick Street in Alexandria, the Chapter House must relocate. 205 has been our first and only Chapter House, a townhouse on the campus of Virginia Tech's Washington Alexandria Architecture Center, but the VT Foundation has other plans for our building, so we must move. Happily, we have found new space only a block away, so we can continue our relationship with WAAC. Our new Chapter House sits at the corner of a busy intersection and offers large windows where we can showcase members' work. Built around 1885 for the T.J. Fannon & Sons coal yard, the showroom, where coal stoves were displayed, offers us an open space for meetings, seminars and events. We are in the process of making some improvements and packing, so please be patient over the next few weeks as we prepare to move. |
| Virginia Architecture Week Starts Tomorrow Celebrate Architecture Week with yoga, tours, exhibits, a scavenger hunt and panel discussion. Everything is free and continuing education credits can be found. Saturday, April 9
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MTFA Architecture Takes Top Prize in International Canstruction Competition MTFA's rendition of a giant, sculptural snail, made of 3,580 cans of tuna, was awarded the top prize at the 2015-2016 International Canstruction® Competition. Selected as Jurors’ Favorite from over 1,200 structures from cities worldwide, the jury honored SNAILed it! SLOWing Down Hunger One Can at a Time with its most prestigious award. MTFA is an avid participant in our Canstruction Competition. Not only did they win Jurors’ Favorite in the AIA Northern Virginia Competition, but they were also awarded our People's Choice Award.While Canstruction is a design/build competition, it is also a community service project. At the end of our event, all the canned food used in the structures is donated to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC). Our competition donated over 30,000 pounds of food to stock AFAC's shelves, including all of MTFA's protein-packed tuna cans. This is the second time in the twelve-year history of the AIA Northern Virginia Canstruction Competition that one of our participants was awarded Jurors' Favorite in the International competition. Samaha Associates won the award in 2010 for ORANGE you glad you CAN help e-LEMON-ate hunger? Congratulations to all of our participating teams: AECOM, Dewberry, HGA Architects and Engineers, Jacobs, GBNA - Arlington + DC, LandDesign & Rust|Orling Architecture, Little, McKinley Elementary School, MTFA Architecture, PGAL and Samaha Associates! More information is available here. |
| Remember – Design Award Entries Due April 21 This year's jury is from the Austin, Texas area. We will host two separate panels of judges, one for commercial/institutional/historic projects and a separate one for single-family residential architecture. We had 21 winning projects last year. So prepare your submittal for 2016 – aianova.org/DA16. |
| Spring in Virginia = Architecture Tours |
| April 10 – Walking Tour of Historic Old Town Alexandria, 2 HSW LUs Lead by members of our Historic Resources Committee. April 16 – Construction Tour: Liberty Crest (Laurel Hill Adaptive Reuse Area), 1.5 HSW LUs See the transformation of the Lorton Reformatory to a residential neighborhood. April 28 – Construction Tour: St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, 2 HSW LUs Organized by our Young Architects Forum, followed by a Happy Hour. April 30 – Home and Garden Tour Benefitting the Love Quilt Project, 3 HSW LUs Charity tour of architect-designed houses, voted "Best of" by Arlington Magazine in 2015. April 30 – Hollin Hills House and Garden Tour, 3 HSW LUs Community tour of an award-winning mid-century neighborhood in Alexandria. |
 Correction!Last month's BLAST included an incomplete photo credit for the Old Town Youth Center, designed by Maginniss + del Ninno Architects. The photo was taken by Eric Taylor of Eric Taylor Photography. Photo © Eric Taylor Photography |
| Awards and Opportunities Due April 21 – AIA Northern Virginia Design Award Submissions Due Due April 15 – AIA Call for 2017 NAAB Visiting Teams Due April 18 – RFP for the Town of North Beach, Maryland Performing Arts Center Due April 19 – AIA Emerging Professionals Exhibit 2016 Due April 19 – Health Foundation Seeks Architects for Leadership Program Due April 22 – 2016 Next Generation Scholarship Due April 25 – Academy of Architecture for Justice Call for Presentations Due April 30 – ArchEx Call for Presentations Due May 13 – Drawing on History: Infill Design Competition Due May 31 – Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH) 2016 Journal Call for Papers |
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Liberty Crest (Laurel Hill Adaptive Reuse Area) |
 A project to redevelop the historic core of the former Lorton Reformatory, originally commissioned by Theodore Roosevelt and built in 1910, is now under construction after 14 years of planning and preparations.  Liberty Crest at Laurel Hill, the name of the new neighborhood, will reuse former prison buildings and preserve the historic character of the site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.The Alexander Company, a national leader in historic preservation, is transforming 29 historic buildings on the unique 80-acre prison complex into 165 apartments, historic retail and commercial space, and a clubhouse with a swimming pool. Southway Builders joined the team in 2014 as construction manager and is overseeing the $35 million adaptive reuse portion of the project, which is scheduled for completion in mid-2017. Additional work is simultaneously taking place on the surrounding site including all new infrastructure, green space and the construction of 83 new townhomes and 24 new single-family homes. As part of Architecture Week, join Southway Builders and The Alexander Company for a first glimpse and construction tour of this unique redevelopment. The free tour takes place on April 16, from 10:00-11:30a. 1.5 HSW LUs are offered. Details and reservations are available here. |
 Above image © Alan Gilbert Photography Rendering in header © Alexander Company All other project images © Southway Builders |
APRIL CALENDAR 8 | Young Architects Forum / ELA Happy Hour 5:30p, Alexandria. [info] 9 | Skyline Yoga 10:00a, Arlington. [info] 10 | Working with an Architect 12:00p, Alexandria. [info] 10 | Walking Tour of Historic Old Town Alexandria 1:00p, Alexandria. [info] 10 | WAAC Open House 1:00p, Alexandria. [info] 10 | Intersection of Art and Architecture - A Panel Discussion 6:00p, Alexandria. [info] 10-16 | Architecture at its Best: An Exhibit of Award-Winning Projects by Local Architects Alexandria. [info] 10-16 | Architecture Week Book Displays Local Libraries. [info] 11 | AIA Northern Virginia Board Meeting 4:30p, Alexandria. [info] 16 | Architecture Scavenger Hunt for Children 1:00p, Alexandria. [info] 16 | Construction Tour: Liberty Crest (Laurel Hill Adaptive Reuse Area) 10:00a, Lorton. [info] 19 | CRAN Seminar: A User's Guide to Working with a Landscape Architect 6:30p, Washington. [info] 20 | 360 Mentoring General Session 6:15p, Arlington. [info] 21 | Trivia Night 7:00p, Alexandria. [info] 21 | Design Awards Entries Due 5:00p, Alexandria. [info] 28 | Construction Tour: St. Augustine's Episcopal Church 6:00p, Washington. [info] 30 | ARE Prep: Schematic Design + 2 Vignettes 10:00a, Arlington. [info] Upcoming Dates to Note: May 4 - Life After the Exams: Licensing and Professional Practice May 11 - Women in Architecture Happy Hour May 19-21 - 2016 AIA Convention May 26 - Young Architects Forum Happy Hour AIA Northern Virginia Calendar | AIA|DC Calendar | AIA Potomac Valley Calendar | AIA Virginia Calendar | Branch Museum Calendar For additional information on any of these events, please contact the Chapter House at (703) 549-9747 or aianova@aianova.org. The Chapter House is located at 205 South Patrick Street, Alexandria 22314. |