AIANH Announces Winners of High School Design Competition

Keene, NH – The New Hampshire Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIANH) recently announced the results of its 2016 High School Design Competition. Awards were distributed at the AIA New Hampshire / Keene State College Architecture Department Annual Meeting held at Keene State College, April 28.

The AIANH Design Competition is a program that requires students to work on a theoretical project under the guidance of their teachers. AIANH volunteers visit the schools when possible to explain the project and give critiques before the submissions are due. The program involves a design solution, a three-dimensional model, and a graphic plan of the project.

AIANH created the program for high school students to increase awareness of the relationships between space, human scale and function; gain experience in recognizing the various challenges in planning and designing indoor and outdoor spaces for specific uses; exercise analytical abilities and creativity in solving the problems; and gain experience in communicating planning and design ideas using scale drawings and models.

The competition gives students a fun opportunity to develop these skills and to learn about the various aspects of planning and design. This year’s project was based on the fantasy of the 35th America’s Cup being held in Portsmouth, NH. Students were asked to design a Youth Education Pavilion, a highly visible structure to tell the story of the race, the history of sailing, and to introduce local youth to sailing. They were given program parameters and a site plan of Odiorne Point to work with.

The following winners received awards:

Best Design, Overall Superiority, in all aspects of Design Solution, Model, and Graphic Presentation:

1. Patrick Chan, Salem High School, Salem, NH

2. Giuseppe Puglisi, Pinkerton Academy, Derry, NH

Best Model describing Design Solution:

1. Jarod Redfield, Philip Martino, and JT Cloutier, Monadnock Regional HS, Swanzey, NH

2. Kara Ammon, ConVal, Regional High School, Peterborough, NH

Best Graphic presentation describing Design Solution:

1. Hayden Pavao and Lindsay Woodward, Pinkerton Academy, Derry, NH

2. Brenna Whitney, Pinkerton, Academy, Derry, NH

Jurors’ Citation for Overall Design Idea and Model Quality

Hannah Cheneau, ConVal Regional High School, Peterborough, NH


Jurors’ Citation for Hand Drawn Sketches

Brenna Whitney, Pinkerton Academy, Derry, NH

Jurors were Dennis McNeal AIA, Warrenstreet Architects, Concord, NH, and Sheldon Pennoyer AIA, Sheldon Pennoyer Architects, Concord, NH. The jury commented on the high quality of all the submissions, noting that everyone addressed the challenges of the design problem with a high level of creativity. The overall quality of the boards and models was exceptional.

The winning students’ teachers are also to be commended, as this competition requires guidance and support. They are Rolfe Voltaire, Pinkerton Academy; Karen Fabianski, ConVal Regional High School; Gerald Kuhn, Monadnock Regional High School; Scott Kukshtel, Salem High School; and Frank Xydias, Milford High School. AIA New Hampshire architects also volunteered to critique the projects during their creation.

The 2016 AIANH High School Design Competition was sponsored in part with a grant from the AIA/NH Architecture Foundation.

The 2017 AIANH High School Design Competition details will be released in September and posted on the AIANH website: www.aianh.org/education/outreach/high-school-design. The program is open to all high schools in New Hampshire. For more information on the New Hampshire Chapter contact Carolyn Isaak, Executive Director, 603-357-2863, office@aianh.org, www.aianh.org.