Virginia member Robert M. Gurney, FAIA, was among only 11 practitioners to be recognized with an AIA 2012 Small Project Award. The AIA Small Project Awards Program, now in its ninth year, was established to recognize small-project practitioners for the high quality of their work and to promote excellence in small-project design. This award program emphasizes the excellence of small-project design and strives to raise public awareness of the value and design excellence that architects bring to projects, no matter the limits of size and scope.
Gurney’s project fit into the second of three categories, which encompassed small project construction up to $1,500,000.
Becherer House; Charlottesville, VA
Robert M. Gurney, FAIA
The house is conceived of three gable-roofed pavilions that provide a threshold between the woodlands and the pastures, taking advantage of two very different scenic panoramas. The one room deep, central living pavilion contains large expanses of glass along two walls, affording views of both the woods and rolling horse pastures. This configuration insures the space will be flooded with light at all times of the day throughout the year. A screened porch and bluestone terrace, running the length of the house provides a stage to view sunsets over the pastures while a manicured lawn and dry-stacked slate wall provide an ordered transition from the house to the woods beyond.