Robert J. Higgins Welcome Center
Architecture Firm: DBVW Architects
Year: 2018 Design Awards
Category: Commercial Architecture: Higher Education
Location: Kingston, RI
Type: Honor Award
With a unique floorplan that successfully amalgamates two contextual grid orientations while allowing for resolved spaces offset in intriguing conflict. The building is slyly contemporary, yet provides a direct nod to local historic buildings. Taken together as a mix of tradition and innovation, the building provides a clear sense of the University’s brand for the visitor. The butterfly dormers/light monitors are a nice twist to the roof-form. The use of color and material, and branding on the interior provides a simple and effective progressive tone to visitors coming to the University of Rhode Island. The configuration of spaces is complex, yet the roof appears simple and consistent with the residential-scale street context. Exterior spaces and paths work well for pedestrians and vehicles while also pointing nicely across the street to the main campus quad.
Jurors’ Comments (AIA Akron, OH)
Kingston, RI