Roxbury Branch of the Boston Public Library Renovation designed by Utile, Inc. awarded Harleston Parker Medal.
The Boston Society for Architecture (BSA) held its annual awards gala last night to celebrate the people and projects that advance excellence in architecture and design in and around Boston. The BSA and its juries bestowed a total of 23 design awards that collectively recognize the power of the built environment to empower communities, promote change, and build a more sustainable and equitable Boston.
The winner of the prestigious Harleston Parker Medal to recognize “the most beautiful piece of architecture, building, monument, or structure built in the metropolitan Boston area in the past 10 years” is the Roxbury Branch of the Boston Public Library Renovation, designed by Utile, Inc. The jury found that “this building demonstrates a good model for how to transform brutalist buildings, of which Boston has so many. Its ‘outside-in’ experience is enhanced by the view of the canopy of the interior ‘trees’ from outside. One can see how the community is involved in this space. Overall, the project required a lot of community engagement, evident in its community-driven programming, like the Nutrition Lab.” This was Utile’s first time receiving the Harleston Parker Medal.
Projects were evaluated by a jury of architects, designers, artists, public servants, planners and more from Boston and across the country and three levels of design awards were bestowed – Honor, Merit and Impact Advancement Commendation. Additionally six annual BSA awards were conferred including the Harleston Parker Medal, the Harleston Parker People’s Choice Award, the Commonwealth Award, the BSA Award of Honor, BSA Honorary Membership and the Earl R. Flansburgh Young Designer’s Award.
2024 BSA Award Winners:
Harleston Parker Medal
Roxbury Branch of the Boston Public Library Renovation (2020)
Firm: Utile, Inc.
Harleston Parker People’s Choice Award
Project: Harvard University District Energy Facility (2021)
Firm: Leers Weinzapfel Associates Architects
Built Design Excellence, Adaptive Reuse, Renovation or Historic Preservation – Honor Award
Project: Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank Lyceum at Amherst College
Firm: Bruner/Cott Architects
Built Design Excellence, Educational Facilities – Honor Award
Project: Bowdoin College, Barry Mills Hall and the John Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies
Firm: HGA
Built Design Excellence, Housing – Honor Award
Project: Jackson Hole Workforce Housing
Firm: Merge Architects, Inc
Built Design Excellence, Other – Honor Award
Project: Downtown Cary Park
Firm: Machado Silvetti
Built Design Excellence, Other – Honor Award
Project: Land’s Sake Farmstand
Firm: Payette
Small Firms, Adaptive Reuse, Renovation, or Historic Preservation – Honor Award
Project: Church Street Residences
Firm: Studio Luz Architects, Ltd
Small Firms, Other – Honor Award
Project: The Point House
Firm: Studio Hearth Architecture + Design
Commonwealth Award
UMass BRUT
Rose Kennedy Greenway
BSA Award of Honor
Maryann Thompson, FAIA
Earl R. Flansburgh Young Designers Award
Calvin Boyd-Morlani, AIA
Honorary BSA Member
Chris O’Hara, Founding Principal, Studio NYL
Anthony Flint, Senior Fellow, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
For more information, visit architects.org.
