INDIANAPOLIS, IN The American Institute of Architects Indiana (AIA) presented seven awards to Indiana architects during its annual Design Awards. Hafer, an Evansville, Indiana, -based design firm, took home the Honor Award for its design of the Griffin Center at the University of southern Indiana.

A panel of judges considered 66 projects for the 2016 awards, which recognizes the best designs by Indiana architects. The awards were presented during the AIA Indiana and AIA Kentucky Convention Friday in Lexington, Lexington.

Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf Architects received the 25-year Award for its design of the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. Since its opening in 1989, the museum has become an Indiana landmark.

Merit awards went to Bamesberger Architecture in Valparaiso, Indiana, for its design of a tiny, box-shaped home in Valparaiso, ONE 10 STUDIO Architects of Indianapolis, Indiana, for its office design for the Marion County Public Defender Agency inside a former school building and to Ball State University professor Timothy Gray, AIA, for a student-built mobile greenhouse at Butler University.

ONE 10 STUDIO Architects also received a Citation Award for its design of the Reliant Partners office building in Broad Ripple, Indiana. Indianapolis-based arcDESIGN also received a Citation Award for its renovation and addition to Normal Hall, the oldest building at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Here is more information about the winners, and what judges had to say about the designs:

HONOR AWARD (New construction with project cost more than $1 million)

Hafer, Evansville

University of Southern Indiana Griffin Center, Evansville

Simple materials including huge anodized metal panels and glass help reinforce the contrast between nature and architecture and blur the line between interior and exterior space to allow the structure to be a canvas for art. Designers wanted the events and conference center to be a timeliness addition to the modern style of the University of Southern Indiana campus.

Jury Comments:

"This small academic building utilizes a simple, direct organization to connect the work to its bucolic site. The material palette is reductive and refined, with consistent detailing inside and out. The result is a sophisticated, mature work that will become better with age."

MERIT AWARD (new construction, project cost less than $1 million)

Bamesberger Architecture, Valparaiso

The Box, a private residence in Valparaiso

Inspired by the owner's desire to have a small house overlooking the untouched wetlands, Bamesberger Architecture designed a series of boxes nestled into the hillside. The living space is only 960-square-feet. There are also two square decks, a screened porch and small storage box grouped along the edge of the wetlands.

Jury Comments:

"This residence employs a simple site strategy that is clearly communicated and executed. The relationship of the larger house to the small, screen pavilion frames views out into the site. The interior volume of the home is simple, but surprising with a direct use of a limited number of materials."

MERIT AWARD (Non-traditional project)

Timothy Gray, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Gray Architecture; Ball State University Department of Architecture professor

GrOwING GREEN, a mobile greenhouse at Butler University Center for urban ecology

This prototype for a fully automated mobile greenhouse is the fifth in a series of projects built in support of urban farming operations in Indianapolis over the last six years. It's designed to function year-round, and since it's mobile, it can be shared between farming operations and amplifies the potential for community engagement.

Jury Comments:

"This deployable green house is a modest and direct construction containing a mobile instructional space. The simple, lightweight steel frame is repeated to create a volume apparently derived from its functional program.  Nothing more than it needed to be."

MERIT AWARD (Preservation/Adaptive Reuse/Renovation)

ONE 10 STUDIO Architects

Marion County Public Defender Agency, Indianapolis

Architects were challenged to create a professional work environment for attorneys and paralegals inside a 1920's school building without making it look and feel like an old school. One 10 Studio created each attorney's office with large windows and solid core birch sliding glass doors painted with high gloss red, car paint to create a continuous red panel.

Jury Comments:

though entered as an adaptive reuse, this project was the strongest interior as well.  A small number of elements (red doors, wood ceiling panels, white walls) are employed to create spaces that elevate the program - a public defender's agency.  The new systems are clearly articulated and juxtaposed with the historic shell that contains them.

CITATION AWARD (Preservation/Adaptive Reuse/Renovation)

arcDESIGN, Indianapolis

Indiana State University Normal Hall, Terre Haute

The oldest surviving building at Indiana State University - a 1909, Neo-Classical design -- was brought back to life thanks to a restoration and renovation. Built for student education, it later was a library and then in the mid-1970s was used primarily for archival storage. It's now the Student Success Center, and many of the original characteristics, including the stained-glass rotunda have been restored.

Jury Comments:

"This project lovingly restores a series of public spaces lost and hidden by years of ill-conceived renovations. The preservation component of the project was thoroughly researched and painstakingly executed - recapturing the grandeur of this academic building.  The work was very clearly communicated allowing the extent of the renovation to be completely understood."

CITATION AWARD (New construction, project cost greater than $1 million)

ONE 10 STUDIO Architects, Indianapolis

Reliant Partners, Indianapolis

Two small rundown bungalows in Broad Ripple Village were razed to make way for this $1.2 million office building to span the gap between the residential area and the commercial area. The building was designed so the second floor lights would be left on at night to create a beautiful glowing lantern for the neighborhood.

Jury Comments:

"This small commercial building is expressed as a simple, wood frame pavilion placed upon a masonry plinth. This strategy allows the lower level bank to appear (appropriately) secure, while allowing the upper level office space to be airy and filled with daylight. The scale of the building appears to complement the neighborhood without copying the neighbors."

25-YEAR AWARD

Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf Architects, Indianapolis

Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis

Architects set off on a cross-country adventure with the owner to identify unique and authentic buildings that reflect Native American culture, which helped inspire the design for the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. The 74,000-square-foot museum has become an Indianapolis landmark over the last 25 years.

Jury Comments:

"The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art succeeds in the transformation of the visitor experience from being in a Midwestern city to that of being among American Indian art, culture and history. This experience begins during the approach to the museum, during the visit and upon departure. The exterior design and materials selection of the museum are decidedly unique within the downtown mile square. This is magnified by the context of the museum being sited along the repurposed canal and in the White River State Park."