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Media Contact:  Krystal Lamm, 601.713.1128, kl@duvalldecker.com

AIA MISSISSIPPI AND Brick INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION SE RECOGNIZE DUVALL DECKER ARCHITECTS PROJECTS WITH DESIGN AWARDS

Duvall Decker Architects Takes Home Five Awards

Jackson, MS, November 6, 2014 -- Jackson architectural firm Duvall Decker Architects, P.A. took home five design awards given by the Mississippi chapter of American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Brick Industry Southeast during the AIA Mississippi annual Design Awards Celebration on October 16th. 

Architect Daria Pizzetta, AIA, partner in H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, a nationally renowned practice based in New York, led the AIA Mississippi jury.  The Jury awarded five citation, three merit, and three honor awards from numerous entries across the state.

The Brick Industry Southeast Design with Brick jury was comprised of Jim Winer, AIA of Make3 Architecture and Jim Choate, AIA of Surber Barber Choate & Hertlein, both in Atlanta GA. They awarded two merit and one president’s award.

The recently completed James H. White Library Renovation at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Mississippi, received an AIA Mississippi Merit Award. The phased renovation of the 54,411 sf building was designed to provide traditional modern library functions to students with new reading rooms, computer labs and meeting space. The renovated building invigorates the campus center and creates a hub for academic and social life.

AIA juror’s comments:  “The architects made some very strong strategic moves on the exterior of the building to open it to the campus.  The strongest moves were at the corners – bringing natural light into the building.  These moves made a bunker into a lantern.  This changed the building visually and functionally.  The façade was revitalized from a static and heavy symmetry into a vibrant and inviting structure.  The selection of new interior materials combined with the daylighting strategies provides an inviting and comfortable gathering space for students and faculty.”   

The Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services Cooperative Data Center in Jackson, MS was also recognized with an AIA Mississippi Merit Award as well as a Brick Industry Southeast Design with Brick President’s Award.  This two-building complex consists of an office building to house the MDITS agency and staff and a Tier 4 Data Center building to house the State of Mississippi’s critical data, telecommunication systems and equipment. The Brick Industry Southeast Design with Brick President’s Award came with a check for $2,000, which Duvall Decker will gift, to the Mississippi State University School of Architecture and Design’s Minority Travel Scholarship.

AIA juror’s comments:  “The two buildings and corresponding courtyard space combine to create an environment that is both welcoming yet technically proficient.  The exterior building massing and level of appropriate detail combine the exterior materials very well.  The interior combination of natural light, warm materials, and well-designed circulation paths creates an inviting environment.  Building shape and skin configuration and material solution makes a strong architectural composition.”

Brick design juror’s comments: “All aspects of this handsome project are pleasing, from its overall sculptural composition and site planning, to its careful detailing of component parts.  The palette of glass curtain wall/metal cladding, colored & textured brick is at once attractive and unique.  The use of brick as the heavy form that rests on the ground plane is a nice foil for the lightweight forms above.  It is rewarding to see a state facility make such a wonderful architectural contribution.”

Another project, E. Albert Dumas Hall Renovation at Alcorn State University in Lorman, MS is the recipient of the Brick Industry Southeast Design with Brick Merit Award, and was also selected by public vote for the People’s Choice Award. This complete renovation of an existing campus building utilized a brick rainscreen system. The newly renovated building serves the campus with new classrooms, faculty offices and conference room, and a lecture hall.

Brick design juror’s comments: “The building is rigorously detailed with evidence of careful thought about the performance of the exterior brick cladding system.  The composition of the exterior is an interesting combination of modern glass form with its implied ‘lightness’, juxtaposed against the weight and mass of the brick walls, which boast a well-articulated cadence of windows.  Similarly, the interior spaces are equally rigorous in their careful detailing.”

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The AIA Mississippi Design Awards Program seeks to encourage excellence and elevate the quality of architecture by recognizing and honoring works of distinction by its members and bring to public attention outstanding examples of architecture and design.  

Duvall Decker Architects, P.A., a Jackson, MS based architecture and planning firm, has received numerous local, regional and national awards for design excellence.  The firm has completed multiple educational facilities, public buildings, and affordable housing complexes.  Current commissions include academic facilities for Hinds Community College and Alcorn State University, a library renovation for Mississippi Valley State University, and housing/urban development for multiple partners in Jackson, MS.

Duvall Decker’s work consistently considers the public aspects of the built environment to produce buildings durable in both material and memory. For information on Duvall Decker Architects, contact Roy Decker at 601.713.1128 or visit online at www.duvalldecker.com or www.facebook.com/DuvallDeckerArchitectsPA.

Firm contacts:     Roy Decker, AIA or Anne Marie Decker, AIA

DUVALL DECKER ARCHITECTS, P.A.

2915 N. State St., Jackson, MS 39216

tel  601.713.1128   fax  601.713.1168

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