2013 Winning Projects - Photos Posted

Photos of the 2013 winning projects have been posted to the HS Design Competition's web album at the following link (judges' comments will be added later):

2013 Winning Projects

2013 Winners list posted!

The awards banquet was yesterday evening, and we have posted the list of this year's winners at this link.  Congratulations to the winning students, their families, instructors, and other supporters!

Photos of the winning boards and comments will be posted soon...

HSDC Awards Banquet 4/23

AIA Toledo would like to cordially invite you to join us at the

AIA Toledo’s 63rd annual High School Design Competition Award Ceremony

Date
Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Location
Grand Plaza Hotel, 444 North Summit Street, Toledo, OH 43604

Schedule
5:00pm
Student Boards Exhibition & Informal Dining

6:15pm
Speaker:  Michael Cadwell, Walter H. Kidd Professor; Director, Knowlton School of Architecture, The Ohio State University
Speaker:  Lucas Metropolitan Housing Administration representative

7:00pm
Awards Presentation

This year’s project was the design of a two-unit residential duplex for the Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority (LMHA).  Students were challenged to create a functional living unit that met the needs of affordable housing while addressing many factors such as balancing public/private spaces; responding to site factors and orientation; incorporating sustainable concepts; providing universal access; and, most importantly, designing a building that someone could call “home.”

We are pleased to announce that Mr. Michael Cadwell of The Ohio State University will be speaking at the awards ceremony.  He is a Walter H. Kidd Professor and the Director of OSU’s Knowlton School of Architecture.

Representatives from LMHA & AIA Toledo will also be in attendance and will be presenting awards for the winning entries.

We strongly encourage professional members of our Chapter to attend this highly-supported community outreach program, regardless of previous level of participation.  It is a great opportunity to observe and even influence the future of our profession.

The 2013 HSDC Committee would like to extend special thanks to the following organizations for making this year’s competition possible:

• Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority
• Bowling Green State University – School of Architecture
• The Northwest Ohio Chapter of the US Green Building Council
• The Maumee Valley Section of the American Society of Landscape Architects
• Harold Roe
• AIA Toledo Young Architects Forum
• Becker Impressions
• Toledo Public Schools

Admission to the Awards Ceremony is Free to AIA Toledo members, High School Teachers, Advisors, Students and their family members.

YAF Architectural Design Detail Award

The optional YAF Architectural Design Detail (a.k.a. "Divine Detail") award was listed on the 2013 program as a new award for this year's competition.  This award was added to replace the former model building competition (which had waned in popularity in recent years due to the use of 3D computer models).

A description of the criteria and requirements for this optional portion of the competition are as follows:

Show us your creative details…….. elegant roof feature, connection of differing exterior materials, cabinet details; interior wall assembly, highlighted site element, etc.; whatever the elements, celebrate design and the rigor you’ve brought into designing them.

This detail should be enlarged to a scale that clearly represents the aspect in which you are trying to indicate and still fit on the final presentation board. A brief description of 25 words or less should accompany the detail.

As your instructors and advisors may tell you, there are an almost infinite variety of details that will qualify for this award, thus the requirements are loose.  If you have a unique detail or feature in your design, we recommend you take the extra step to point it out and put your project in the running for additional recognition!

This award is sponsored by the AIA Toledo Young Architects' Forum, a group of emerging architectural professionals (many of whom are HSDC advisors).

2013 Student Info Sheet

The "Student Information Sheet" has been posted at the link below for your students to fill out and attached to the back of their boards (please attach one sheet to the back of each board, sometimes these fall off so we like to have a backup plan).

Student Information Sheet 

Please email us at hsdc.aiatoledo@gmail.com if you have any questions.

[Links updated 9/22/2014]

2013 Program Q&A #1

The 2013 competition is well underway, and we have received questions from several schools regarding the program.  So without further fanfare, here is the Q&A:

COMPETITION QUESTIONS
Is there going to be a model portion of the competition this year?
Due to the reduced quantity of models that have been submitted in recent years, there will not be a model competition this year.  The "Architectural Detail Competition" has replaced that.

Will there be a rendering day this year?
Again, due to lack of attendees the last few times we had it, there will be no rendering day this year.  Architectural advisers are encouraged to provide advice to the students, and may pull in outside help if needed.

Can my students draw their plans at 1/4" = 1'-0" scale?
The 1/8" = 1'-0" scale shown on the program sheet is the minimum; students are allowed to draw their plans at 1/4" = 1'-0" as an alternative.  Please make floor plans, elevations and building section the same scale.


PROGRAM/DESIGN QUESTIONS
Can I stack the 2 units of the duplex and place the ADA unit on the first floor and the second unit on the upper floor?
Yes.  Units are not necessarily required to be side-by-side.  There must be ground-level access to the upper floor unit.

I have several students interested in possible solutions that would result in shared driveways / common areas distributed over all 4 parcels. This is being explored in the interest of creating a mini community of sorts.  Is this permissible?

Yes; however keep in mind that indoor and living areas must be separate.

Each of the 4 units is to be a duplex, correct, for 2 families? Does just one of the two in the duplex have to be handicap accessible, or both?
Each of the 4 buildings is the be a duplex, for a total of 8 dwelling units.  The accessible unit applies to just one of the two units of the duplex (although both may be accessible, at the student's option).

On the site plan, do the students need to show just one unit (duplex) and just indicate the others?

Just one duplex needs to be designed; the other three can be "boxes" on the site plan.  

2013 Program Posted

The competition kickoff meeting was Tuesday, January 8 at 4:00 pm at the AIA Toledo office.  Despite the short notice (although it was listed on the brochure that went out to all schools in December), a few instructors showed up and received the program sheets and were able to ask program questions of the HSDC Committee.

If you or your teacher were unable to attend the kickoff meeting, don't panic!  Instructors can still have their class or group participate in the competition by sending us an email telling us you are participating.  We will add new classes up to the end of the month (January 22 is shown on the program sheet), and would like a tentative list of participating students by February 22 (sooner, if possible).  Project boards are due March 27, 2013 (and that date cannot change).

This year's program is a residential duplex development  in a site adjacent to Lucas County Metropolitan Housing Authority's Collingwood Green project.  We have had many requests for a residential project over the past few years, and this year we are able to respond to those requests.

In addition to being a relatively affordable project, LMHA has set sights on sustainability as a goal, and would also like to provide accessible design where possible.  This program includes a requirement for Juniors & Seniors to have one accessible unit in their development.  Sustainable features are also called out for on the program.

Program sheet (5.75 MB PDF) or alternate link

Site Plan - DWG format
Site Plan- DXF format

Instructors, please send your student list to hsdc.aiatoledo@gmail.com as soon as possible!  We will be working to assign advisers to every participating high school before the end of January.

Student participation forms will be updated and posted to this website; we will send announcements when they become available.

We look forward to a great competition this year! 

AIA HS Design Competition Kickoff TODAY!

We apologize for the terribly short notice…

The AIA Toledo High School Design Competition kickoff meeting will be today (Tuesday, January 8) at 4:00 pm at the AIA Toledo Office (521 W. Woodruff Ave., Toledo).

Instructors, advisors, and interested students are welcome to attend and see what this year’s program will be, as well as have the first opportunity to ask questions regarding the project.

Also, if you are an instructor who had winning students last year, the winning boards will be available.

If you cannot attend the kickoff, that’s OK; we’ll post the program sheet to the website by the end of the week, and mail it to the instructors who have told us that their school will be participating.  Please let us know if your school is participating by the end of the month so we trim the email list down to only the people who need to be on it and aren’t cluttering up everyone’s inbox.

Good luck, and we hope for great design!