Atlanta’s Big Night Out

Only one event could gather around 300 architects, designers, landscape architects, and other industry fellows dressed in their finest black-tie attire for a lengthy dinner at the Piedmont Driving Club: The Shutze Awards Ceremony, named for Philip Trammell Shutze, Atlanta’s most famous architect. To an outsider, the night is often explained as “the Oscars of the design world.” And rightfully so—the submission process is rigorous. Once completed, entries were blindly and stiffly judged by this year’s acclaimed jurors, designer Madeline Stuart, architect Thomas A. Kligerman, and landscape architect Douglas Hoerr. And after all the work is complete, there is a glittery awards ceremony party (this year chaired by designer Susan Ferrier and said by many to be the best one yet). Before any awards were given out, architect Stan Dixon announced the ICAA’s Kyle D. Taylor Scholarship in honor of the late young Atlanta architectural designer. Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles was in attendance and is thrilled to share the winners.

Winning Detail A narrative imagined by Lanham and Dixon—that this new home was once a stable— dictated extraordinary design, seen in elements like these interior tabby walls.

Interior Design under 5,000 SQ. FT.

Jacquelynne P. Lanham Designs, Inc. and D. Stanley Dixon architect 

for a Lowcountry Stable House, Kiawah Island, South Carolina

the jurors say: “Displaying a virtuoso’s mastery of the craft, this Kiawah Island house is an authentic expression of the owner’s tastes and sensibilities. Richly layered, chic, warm and welcoming. This residence exudes a timeless style that feels traditional yet fresh.”

words from the winners: “The design team put a lot of imagination and thought into the Kiawah Project, so for the Shutze jurors to recognize our efforts, we are ecstatic.”

Winning Detail A cedar plank roof made from trees cut down on the property tops the home. “This roof was a first for us,” says Nequette.

Residential under 5,000 SQ. FT

Nequette Architecture & Design 

for Cahaba River House, Bibb County, Alabama 

the jurors say: “We appreciate the architect’s embrace and application of unusual building techniques and materials. The design of this house is clearly informed by the landscape and it’s a lesson in how to incorporate traditional knowledge in a unique and inventive way.”

words from the winner: “Awards hold their value based on the credibility of the people that choose you. The Southeast chapter of ICAA and this incredibly talented jury are all at the top of their game, and they chose us. I still don’t quite feel worthy of the honor. Our team is very excited and thankful.” 

Winning Detail The addition’s five granite arches are both inspired by and physically centered on the existing Palladian stair window.

before

Renovation under 5,000 SQ. FT. 

C. Brandon Ingram Design

for a Classic Neel Reid in Ansley Park, Atlanta, Georgia 

the jurors say: “The sweep of a new columned porch has given life to a poorly designed rear addition and underutilized site. The contrasting stone, light palette and Chippendale pool house create a new private world for this house.”

words from the winner: “Winning a Shutze is always a great honor, and I still feel too young and not worthy of receiving that honor twice. Being a Neel Reid house, this one is particularly special. My clients gifted me the opportunity to reach back into Atlanta’s architectural history and give this house a new life that will reach far into the future. Now, it has that elusive, ephemeral quality of being fresh and up-to-date, while also being a mirror on the past.”

Winning Detail Connor’s directive to artist Raymond Goins, who created the dining room murals shown at left: “Make it feel like an alligator is going to crawl out from under the table during dinner!”

Interior Design over 5,000 SQ. FT.

Tammy Connor Interior Design

for a Charleston Residence, Charleston, South Carolina 

the jurors say: “Honest and appropriate to the architecture and place. The interior design of this Charleston home has a traditional point of view without appearing staid or predictable.”

words from the winner: “Winning the Philip Trammell Shutze award from the ICAA is a high honor for our firm, and it inspires us to keep creating beautiful interiors for our clients.”

Winning Detail A dark metal fireplace and hood looks modern, but actually emphasizes the age-old importance of the family hearth.

Residential over 5,000 SQ. FT

Jeffrey Dungan Architects

Modern Bavarian Lakeside Retreat, Lake Keowee, South Carolina

the jurors say: “Charming and idiosyncratically original without being heavy handed. This house engaged in a strong dialogue with its woodland setting. We found the craftsmanship and materiality to be handsome and inventive.”

words from the winner: “Although I have never considered myself a purely classical architect, I’m humbled and honored to realize this is my fourth Shutze award, and in many regards one of the most special because of the project and the relationship with my client. The awards ceremony was also one of the best as I was fortunate to have members of my team, old friends and clients all at the table with me, adding more memories and meaning to the award.”

Winning Detail The all-white garden had to be in bloom from April through October, requiring extensive research for candidate plantings and a heavy backstock of plants to supplement throughout the exhibit.

Landscape-Commercial

Alex Smith Garden Design, Ltd. 

for a White Garden, Atlanta, Georgia

the jurors say: “The jury responded to the interlacing of formal boxwood geometry and billowing white floral drifts. Great attention was paid to Sissinghurst’s tradition and to the deft use of skillful plantmanship.  The garden displays the power of public horticulture.”

words from the winner: “When I attend a Shutze awards presentation, I am reminded how deep the talent pool is in the Southeast and winning certainly validates the work that we create and execute. This project was a little different for us given that it was a public garden. It had to be designed, built and maintained to be show ready for four months. I feel like we met the challenge.”

The Academy of Classical Design in Southern Pines, North Carolina is a school of art with a special emphasis on mural painting and architectural decoration in the classical tradition. This particular curriculum distinguishes the training at the academy from other schools of realism. For more information on the school, see academyofclassicaldesign.org

Pedagogy: Academy of Classical Design

D. Jeffrey Mims 

of Southern Pines, North Carolina

the jurors say: “We were struck by the richness and beauty of this submission and highly value the mission of this atelier. We feel it is critically important to integrate applied arts into the context of architecture.”

words from the winner: “It was a privilege to receive the first ever Shutze award for pedagogy. The honor was especially meaningful because of its association with the man for whom the awards were named. At a time when the classical traditions of architecture and art were being compromised by modernism, Atlanta architect Philip Trammell Shutze was creating iconic public buildings whose beauty and dignity will be treasured for generations.”

Residential Landscape—Garden

Norman Kent Johnson 

for The Garden at House #7, Mountain Brook, Alabama

the jurors say: “Using a light hand and borrowing on a classical garden device, this project succeeds by taking a fresh creative look at a portion of the property that most homeowners should give up for dead and still pay taxes on! By combining only a few simple and honest materials this design solution succeeds by creating new explorable spaces and experiences.”

words from the winner: “My work has always been more than a source of income. It’s the focus of family, friends, fulfillment; this garden exemplifies all of that. It’s one of a dozen I’ve helped to make for members of this client’s family for almost 40 years. That makes me, almost, kin. Each commission offered me the challenge to excel, but none more so than “The Garden at House Number Seven.” I feared it would be my last garden with this client. It was.  The honor of this Shutze affirms that I fulfilled her challenge.”

Winning Detail Walls of glass and tabby connect the bowling alley to the outdoors. Additionally, 4240 worked with Brunswick to design gutters that can be swapped with floor panels converting the bowling alley into an event space.

Commercial, Civic, Institutional, Multi Family, Planning

4240 Architecture

for The Boundary at Moreland Village, Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina 

the jurors say: “This structure acknowledges the horizontal landscape with the long, low profile of agricultural architecture. This building presents a wide variety of experiences through its inventive and cohesive use of a limited palette of traditional materials and inventive detailing.”

words from the winners: “Winning the prestigious Shutze award is a great honor! 4240 Architecture shares a deep love of the classical design traditions in architecture and our work at The Boundary embraced these—creativity, beauty and craft are interwoven to create a timeless architecture that will forever define Moreland Village.”

Student/Emerging Professional

Michael Alexander 

for Sunset Park Market & Garden, Miami, Florida 

the jurors say: “This student’s scheme draws successfully on classical traditions from the Roman Forum to the White City movement. Dispersed across a sprawling campus the project displays the intelligent manipulation of outdoor space, the orders and subtle asymmetry.”

words from the winner: “Coming from an educational program at the University of Miami, where design was rooted in classicism and history, as well as being part of the ICAA Summer Intensive, it is an honor to have received a Shutze, and a testament to those who guided me along the way.”

Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

Elizabeth Meredith Dowling, PhD

Attending architecture school in the late 1960s and 1970s, “I was never very interested in the simplicity or severity of modernism,” says Dowling. After graduation, she taught a few classes at Georgia Tech. Discovering that academics suited her, she obtained a PhD in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania (one of the few programs promoting classic architecture) and quickly became a tenured professor at Georgia Tech committed to “keeping the classical architecture torch alive for many students” throughout her 30-year career. When Georgia Tech urged her to publish, she obliged spending three years researching the seminal book on Philip Trammell Shutze, American Classicist. In her mind, “that book established my career.” While writing it, she received a grant to study Shutze’s time at the American Academy in Rome which inspired her to establish Georgia Tech’s popular summer program in Italy for architecture and humanities students. 

A prolific writer, she considers her last book, Classical Interiors, to be “the summation of everything I have learned. It’s been an interesting thing for my career to see classical design’s survival and its renaissance. We were close to losing it, but now, I think classical and traditional design are alive and well.” Thanks to Dowling, it is.