Delta Shelter is awarded the AIA 2008 Institute Honor Award
Delta Shelter, designed by Tom Kundig of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen, has been awarded the architectural profession’s highest recognition of excellence in architecture: the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2008 Institute Honor Award for Architecture. This is the seventh major award for Delta Shelter, and one of the most prestigious.
Tom Kundig of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects
Receives the AIA 2008 Institute Honor Award for Delta Shelter
New York City, January 8th, 2007
Delta Shelter, designed by Tom Kundig of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen, has been awarded the architectural profession’s highest recognition of excellence in architecture: the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2008 Institute Honor Award for Architecture. This is the seventh major award for Delta Shelter, and one of the most prestigious.
The annual AIA Honor Awards program choose Delta Shelter, along with twenty-seven other recipients, from over 800 total submissions. The goal of the Honor Award program is to elevate the general quality of architecture practice, establish a standard of excellence against which all architects can measure performance, and inform the public of the breadth and value of the architecture practice.
The jury commented, “Delta Shelter artfully integrates sensitive site planning, ecological restoration, and an imaginative architectural translation of the client’s aspirations for a modest tree house retreat in a magnificent mountain setting. It is more than a beautiful object. The concept, design, detailing, materials, composition, and inventiveness are all exceptional.”
For more information about the award, please visit: http://www.aia.org/
About Delta Shelter:
Set on a slight rise within a one-hundred-year flood plain in an alpine river valley, this 1,000 square-foot weekend cabin is essentially a steel-clad box on stilts that can be completely shuttered when the owner is away. Raised above the ground to minimize potential flood damage and to take in 360-degree views of the surrounding forest and mountains, the cabin was conceived as a low-tech, virtually indestructible weekend house.
The cabin is composed of three levels: the lowest level is half carport, half utility/storage room; the middle level consists of the entry, two small bedrooms and bathrooms; the top level is one large space which includes living, dining and cooking areas. Cantilevered, steel decks extend from the top and middle levels and provide space for outdoor sleeping and entertaining.
With substantial portions of the cabin prefabricated offsite—steel structure, roof, shutters, stairs—the basic frame of the house was quickly constructed. The cabin is supported by four steel columns. Floors are 3” x 6” tongue-and-groove wood car-decking, and exterior wood infill walls are clad in 16-gauge, hot-rolled steel sheets with exposed steel fasteners. One half of each exterior façade is glazed, while the other half is clad in steel. All four shutters, which measure 10’ x 18’, can be closed simultaneously by using a hand wheel that moves the shutters over the glazed portions of each façade. The shutters are operated by a series of mechanical devices including a hand wheel, drive shafts, u-joints, spur gears and cables.
The AIA National Honor Award is the seventh award for Delta Shelter. Other awards include: the American Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum, Delta Shelter, 2007; AIA National Housing Committee Award, Delta Shelter, 2007; AIA Northwest and Pacific Region Honor Award, Delta Shelter, 2007; Record House, Architectural Record, Delta Shelter, 2006; AIA Seattle Merit Award, Delta Shelter, 2006; Residential Architect Grand Award, Delta Shelter, 2006.