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Clark Nexsen

Clark Nexsen

Virginia Beach, VA

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Wake Tech Regional Plant Teaching Facility Wins American Architecture Award

By Eliza Vaughn
May 3, '17 5:30 PM EST
Regional Plant Teaching Facility photographs: © Mark Herboth
Regional Plant Teaching Facility photographs: © Mark Herboth

The Regional Plant Teaching Facility in Raleigh, North Carolina, has received a 2017 American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design. The winners are chosen by a jury of Greek architects to promote design excellence and bring a global focus to the best new designs in the United States.

The Regional Plant Teaching Facility was among 79 buildings selected for the prestigious award from more than 300 building and urban planning submissions. Now in its 23rd year, the American Architecture Awards are the nation’s highest public awards given by a non-commercial, non-trade affiliated, public arts, culture and educational institution.

The Regional Plant Teaching Facility on the Northern Wake campus of Wake Tech Community College merges technology, education, and sustainability. The facility highlights the striking aesthetic of building technology and creates a unique educational experience that reveals technology’s role in preserving the beauty of the natural world.

“The regional plant is made up of spaces to house heating and cooling equipment,” said Clark Nexsen architect Don Kranbuehl. “But it is also an educational facility for teaching students and the public about energy efficient building systems.”

This year’s winning buildings selected by the Greek jury are a testament to “the sensitive use of materials and ecology” according to Christian Narkiewicz-Laine, Museum President. “Every one of the winning buildings and urban designs illustrate why American architecture continues to be cutting-edge and globally influential.”

Winning architects and their clients were honored at a Gala Reception at the Orlando Museum of Art April 27. The Chicago Athenaeum, together with The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, will present an exhibition of all 2017 awarded buildings this summer in Athens, Greece. Other tours of the exhibition in Europe and the U.S. are to follow.

Read the full press release and see the list of Award winners at: http://ow.ly/nkcY30bpwPW