<b>Landmark Board Seeks Well-Preserved Houses</b>
Arlington’s Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) is accepting nominations for its Sixth Annual Preservation Design Awards competition.
The awards recognize projects demonstrating excellence in design and craftsmanship for the restoration/renovation of historic buildings, the construction of new additions and compatible new infill construction within existing neighborhoods. The application deadline is April 9.
Since May 2002, the U.S. Department of the Interior has added seven Arlington neighborhoods to the National Register of Historic Places, including Lyon Village, Arlington Village, Commons of Arlington, Ashton Heights, Cherrydale, Maywood and Lyon Park. Arlington now has 41 listings in the National Register, equivalent to 6,565 historic buildings and sites throughout the County.
Entries may be submitted for residential, commercial or institutional buildings. Projects must be located in Arlington and have been completed within the past five years. Buildings, except new construction, must be at least 50 years old. Nominees will be evaluated by a panel of invited design professionals. The winners, including property owners, architects and primary contractors, will be recognized at an awards ceremony in May during national Historic Preservation Week.
For information about submitting applications, photographs and narratives, contact Cynthia Liccese-Torres at (703) 228-3831. A brochure and application, in pdf format, are available online.
Arlington's Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board consists of 15 County Board-appointed Arlington residents who have an interest or professional experience in – or knowledge of – historical issues. Through historic preservation principles, the HALRB promotes the educational, cultural, and economic goals of the County by identifying, preserving, and protecting historic structures, sites, documents, objects and places of historic value to the community at large. The HALRB meets at 7:30 p.m. the third Wednesday of each month at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard.
<b>School Wins Third Design Award</b>
At the Feb. 17 School Board meeting, Molly Merlo, an architect with BeeryRio Architects presented School Board Chair Frank Wilson and assistant superintendent for facilities Alvin Crawley, with a $1,000 check, part of a Grand Prize Award that the school system won in a design contest run by the magazine Learning by Design, a magazine published by American School Board Journal.
Arlington Schools won the magazine’s school design competition, for the design of the Langston Brown School and Community Center, designed by BeeryRio. Langston is being recognized as a recipient of a 2004 Learning By Design Grand Prize. Only two projects are selected nationwide each year.
The $1,000 check is to fund a scholarship for a deserving Langston student or students on behalf of BeeryRio Architecture + Interiors and Learning By Design magazine.
The new School and Community Center opened in September 2003, replacing the 75-year-old Langston-Brown facility that previously stood at the same location. The new 50,000-square-foot structure and surrounding grounds include classrooms, meeting rooms, a gymnasium, two children's play areas, outdoor tennis and basketball courts, and a community picnic pavilion.
Langston-Brown was the first Virginia building to receive a Silver Certification as a "green" building under a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program run by the U.S. Green Building Council. One of the Langston-Brown Center's "green" features is two 11,000-gallon tanks on the roof used to capture rainwater, which is then used for landscape irrigation. The three-story building also uses extensive interior daylighting with sunshades to control heating from the hot summer sun. In designing the building, only paints, fabrics and adhesives that give off low levels of toxins were used.
Judges for the magazine examined school design entries from around the country, looking for successful designs based on several factors. Successful designs must:
* Respond to place and context;
* Balance theory and practice;
* Be scaled appropriately;
* Exploit constraints;
* Center on the learner;
* Minimize negative environmental impacts; and
* Realize the school community's vision.
The spring issue of Learning By Design will feature Langston as one of only two grand prize winning entries, selected from 88 national entries. Langston-Brown was also honored in November for outstanding design in the annual Virginia School Boards Association's Exhibition of School Architecture.