NEWS - Education & Colleges

SBJ Staff Report

Jan 4, 2012 -The SCAD Museum of Art received the top honor from the Savannah chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Savannah) for 2011.

AIA Savannah awarded the SCAD Museum of Art the First Place Honor Award from among 18 projects submitted. The jury noted the "sophisticated synthesis of old and new" and remarked that the SCAD Museum of Art expansion project "far exceeds the sum of its parts."

The award was granted for the treatment of the historic elements of the Central of Georgia Railroad 1856 depot and the addition of the building's modern architectural features within Savannah’s National Landmark Historic District. The lighting, landscaping, streetscaping and 86-foot-tall lantern were cited as key components of the museum’s award-winning design.

Sottile & Sottile and Lord, Aeck & Sargent Architects in association with Dawson Architects received the award for their work on the SCAD Museum of Art.

Christian Sottile, design architect for the SCAD Museum of Art and Sottile & Sottile principal, is also dean of SCAD School of Building Arts and a SCAD alumnus (M.Arch, 1997).

In addition to the top AIA Savannah Honor Award received by the SCAD Museum of Art, SCAD's Pepe Hall was recognized with a citation award for the building's restoration and adaptation. Dawson Architects of Savannah earned the citation award for their work on Pepe Hall, which houses the SCAD fibers department.

The college has rehabilitated more than 100 buildings in Savannah, Atlanta, Lacoste and Hong Kong. SCAD has been recognized by the UNESCO, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the American Institute of Architects and the International Downtown Association, among others, for its excellence in historic conservation.