April 1, 2003
Great Hall Project Garners Two Architecture Awards
Newly Renovated Building Honored By American Institute
of Architects
By Matthew
Lindsay
GW’s Cloyd Heck Marvin Center recently received two American Institute
of Architects (AIA) design awards for the newly completed addition to
the student center.
The Washington Chapter of the AIA awarded the Marvin Center addition
its highest honor, Excellence in Architecture, picking the GW submission
from more than 210 entries. The Virginia Society of the AIA honored
GW with a Merit Award for Design Excellence, selecting the Marvin Center
over more than 120 submissions.
“We wanted to create a space that was state of the art and technologically
advanced, but that also encouraged student interaction,” says Michelle
Honey, AIA, GW’s director of architecture, engineering, and construction.
“These awards, along with the positive feedback we have received
from the GW community, reinforce our belief that the Marvin Center’s
renovation turned out successfully.”
The judges for the Virginia AIA awards were impressed with the amount
of light and life the renovation had brought to the Marvin Center. They
applauded the addition as creating, “both an urban building and
a great social building for the students.” The selection committee
for the Washington AIA awards was likewise impressed by how the glass
and metal addition lightens the rest of the Marvin Center’s exterior,
reflecting light by day and projecting an inviting glow by night. “It
energizes the corner,” they concluded.
“The sophisticated renovation to this 1969 building provides a
fresh look to the campus,” says Honey, applauding the efforts of
Construction Manager Warren Yaun, architects Bill Jones and Hal Davis
from the Smith Group, and K.C. Haile, vice president of the Whiting
Turner Construction Company. “[They] contributed to enhancing the
excellence and continuing momentum of building throughout the University.”
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
