2012 International Property Awards: World's Best Winner
Optima DCHGlobal, Inc. Relic Rock received a Five Star award, and also won the prestigious title for the World's Best Property – Single Unit. Mr. David Hovey, Jr., AIA, founder and president of Optima DCHGlobal, Inc., designed Relic Rock, which represented the USA in the International Final competing with five other projects from around the world.
Optima DCHGlobal, Inc. Relic Rock (AZ)
The International Property Awards 2012, in association with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Yamaha, is the largest and most ultra-luxury property competition across the globe with over 2,000 companies from 88 countries participating this year. The financial value of the projects totals $160 billion U.S. dollars. The projects competed on visual attraction, energy efficiency and interior design. Judging employs a meticulous process involving a panel of over 80 experts covering every aspect of the property business. The judges look not only for the most impressive and innovative projects, but they also examine the sustainability and eco-friendliness of every property and development that comes under their scrutiny.
Having already competed at country-level throughout the regional stages of the International Property Awards, top scoring developers, architects, estate agents and interior designers from across the globe gathered recently in London for the announcement of the ultimate World's Best Winners.
President of the International Property Awards, Stuart Shield, says, "The International Award Winners deserve great praise for their achievements. They have competed against each other and outshone all the other nominees. The skills that they have demonstrated demands attention on a world stage. It was a privilege to meet so many of the Americas' most talented property professionals. Attention to the finest detail, first rate green credentials and a willingness to succeed against a hugely competitive field resulted in the very best property companies being rewarded with the recognition they deserve. I wish them every success in the future."
Visit www.optimaweb.com to view Optima's 5-Star Winners and www.propertyawards.net.
2012 Accolades for Optima as the Americas' Finest Properties: International Property Award Winners
David Hovey, SR. FAIA, president of Optima, Inc. and widely acclaimed winner of many prestigious awards, has just added international recognition to its accolades. Optima, Inc. has been honoured with awards for Optima Camelview Village (AZ) and Optima Old Orchard Woods (IL). These properties were awarded Five Stars, the highest accolade for a property in the Americas 2012 competition.
Optima Camelview Village (AZ)
Optima Old Orchard Woods (IL)
In addition, Optima DCHGlobal, Inc. Relic Rock also received a Five Star award, and also won the prestigious title for the World's Best Property – Single Unit. Mr. David Hovey, Jr., AIA, founder and president of Optima DCHGlobal, Inc., designed Relic Rock, which represented the USA in the International Final competing with five other projects from around the world.
Optima DCHGlobal, Inc. Relic Rock (AZ)
The International Property Awards 2012, in association with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Yamaha, is the largest and most ultra-luxury property competition across the globe with over 2,000 companies from 88 countries participating this year. The financial value of the projects totals $160 billion U.S. dollars. The projects competed on visual attraction, energy efficiency and interior design. Judging employs a meticulous process involving a panel of over 80 experts covering every aspect of the property business. The judges look not only for the most impressive and innovative projects, but they also examine the sustainability and eco-friendliness of every property and development that comes under their scrutiny.
Having already competed at country-level throughout the regional stages of the International Property Awards, top scoring developers, architects, estate agents and interior designers from across the globe gathered recently in London for the announcement of the ultimate World's Best Winners.
President of the International Property Awards, Stuart Shield, says, "The International Award Winners deserve great praise for their achievements. They have competed against each other and outshone all the other nominees. The skills that they have demonstrated demands attention on a world stage. It was a privilege to meet so many of the Americas' most talented property professionals. Attention to the finest detail, first rate green credentials and a willingness to succeed against a hugely competitive field resulted in the very best property companies being rewarded with the recognition they deserve. I wish them every success in the future."
Visit www.optimaweb.com to view Optima's 5-Star Winners and www.propertyawards.net.
How Scottsdale Seeded the Green Building Movement
The city's venerable program set the standard for the Southwest and beyond
By Nora Burba Trulsson
July 19th, 2012
At a glance, Scottsdale, Ariz., doesn't seem like a crunchy-granola kind of town. Maserati V8s purr up Scottsdale Road, the main drag. Megaresorts loom on the horizon. Lush green golf courses are drenched in irrigation water, while faux Tuscan mansions sprout along the fairways.
But beneath Scottsdale's glamorous exterior beats a visionary, eco-friendly heart, more Portland than Palm Beach. This is the city, after all, in which citizens voted to preserve thousands of acres of desert as the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, a city that banned billboards years ago and passed laws that limit development on hillsides and environmentally sensitive lands.
The city also created the Scottsdale Green Building Program, first in the state and one of the oldest nationwide, a program that fosters environmentally friendly design and construction of homes, multifamily residences and commercial buildings.
The program was founded in 1998 under the direction of architect Anthony Floyd, who was drawn to Arizona in the 1970s to learn more about solar design and Arcosanti, architect Paolo Soleri's experimental community. After becoming a city building official, Floyd was further intrigued with alternative building methods and took time off to study environmental issues before helping to launch the program. "We modeled Scottsdale's program after a similar one in Austin, Texas," says Floyd, who remains as the program's senior green building consultant. "At the time, I think Scottsdale's was only the fifth one of its kind in the nation."
At first, the voluntary program was aimed at residential projects, but expanded in 2001 to include commercial buildings. In 2005, the city took green building one step further by being the first in the nation to mandate that newly constructed and renovated public facilities be designed to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council's internationally recognized LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification. Last year, the city adopted the International Green Construction Code as the core of the commercial Green Building Program, making it easier for developers to go green.
The nuts and bolts of Scottsdale's Green Building Program include guidelines in site use, energy, building materials, indoor air quality, solid waste and water usage. Participants are rewarded with expedited plan reviews (a big plus during the pre-recession building-boom years), green inspections and a green certificate of occupancy. The program also presents public seminars, offers a directory of participating designers and builders, and puts together a homeowner's manual, explaining a completed project's green features.
The first projects that went through Scottsdale's Green Building Program were admittedly earnest, straw bale-y kinds of homes, long on energy efficiency and decidedly short on aesthetics. As green building gained steam, more design swans began passing through, winning local, regional and national awards.
This spring, two "stars" of the program won prestigious national American Institute of Architects Housing Awards for Architecture. David Hovey Jr.'s Relic Rock—a desert home that incorporates a prototype flexible building system—won in the single-family home category. Hovey's father, David C. Hovey, also won for his urban, mixed-use condominium project, Optima Camelview Village, which features glass walls and green rooftops.
The local design/build community has embraced the program. Longtime Scottsdale architect John Douglas, whose high-profile projects have included expansions and renovations of the Desert Botanical Garden and Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, went through the program when he renovated his downtown studio.
"Since I own the building, I had a vested interest in saving energy and water expenses for the long run," Douglas says. "I knew that the Green Building Program's goals were aligned with mine. The program made it very easy, and they funded a thorough energy-analysis report at the end of construction, which verified that our building saves 44 percent of the energy costs we would have had if we only built to the legal minimums."
Douglas plans to go green with all his future Scottsdale projects.
To date, more than 1,300 projects have gone through the program. At one point during the housing peak, Floyd says, nearly 50 percent of all single-family permits were going for the green permit, spurred on by the expedited permit process.
The recession, though, has had an effect on the program. Building permits, green or not, are way down from their peak in the mid 2000s. And Floyd has lost his staff because of budget cuts, so he relies on volunteers to help with outreach programs such as monthly solar-energy lectures. A green building expo has also been suspended.
The program continues serve as a model for other Arizona green building initiatives and an inspiration to cities elsewhere. But Floyd predicts the program's days are numbered—not because of budget woes, but because it's done its job.
"These programs are transitional pieces," Floyd says. "There will be no need for green building programs in the future. Green-building practices will be absorbed into everyday, good building practices. This is going to be the way everyone builds. This is a seed that's been planted."
Original article
2012 AIA Housing Awards for Architecture: DCHGlobal Relic Rock
May 17, 2012
Category One:
One- and Two-Family Custom Residences
Jury Comments:
This is just fabulous.
They made shade in an artful way. The playfulness of the colors on the inside ceiling was so fun within the scheme.
This fits well into its site. The way the light plays with the metal is great.
The AIA Housing and Custom Residential Knowledge Community established this awards program to emphasize the importance of good housing as a necessity of life, a sanctuary for the human spirit, and a valuable national resource. The categories are:
• Category One: One- and Two-Family Custom Residences
• Category Two: One- and Two-Family Production Homes
• Category Three: Multifamily Housing
• Category Four: Specialized Housing
Relic Rock | Notes of Interest
Relic Rock is designed with a simple, flexible, sustainable prototype building system that is adaptable to a broad range of different climates and terrains. This prototype architectural solution sits lightly on the land, with cantilevered floors that minimize site disruption. A distinctive connection to nature is achieved by dissolving the division of interior and exterior space.
Relic Rock's modular prefabricated architectural system is based on a three-dimensional structural grid consisting of a 7' x 7' horizontal module, a 1'-3" vertical module, and a 21' x 21' structural bay. All structural and building components are designed and standardized to this 3D grid. The exposed structure consists of a simple set of standardized components much like an "erector set" of beams, columns, connectors, and plates that are assembled into components in the shop and sequentially transported to the jobsite for erection. The floor and roof plates are constructed with nine individual 12 gauge press-formed panels bolted together to span the 7' x 7' module. Glazing, fascia, vertical screens, case work, wall panels, plumbing, electrical wiring, ductwork, insulation, stairs, and handrail are all designed in accordance to the 3D grid and integrated into the structure, thereby allowing automated fabrication with precise and efficient construction.
BIM-enabled Integrated Project Delivery through a collaborative developer-architect-contractor team complements the building system and results in efficiencies that are unable to be realized through traditional project delivery methods. Components modeled to exact dimensions by the architect and contractor within the model result in precise fabrication of structural components, glazing components, and architectural components that fit precisely together with zero on-site collisions or rejections. The software complements the simplicity of the building system by providing the integrated project team with precise construction coordination, accurate bidding, 4D scheduling, and construction management methodology.
Relic Rock has been granted the highest level of certification for green building by the nationally recognized City of Scottsdale Green Building Program.
David Hovey Jr., AIA, accepting the award.
2012 AIA Housing Awards for Architecture: Optima Camelview Village
May 17, 2012
Category Three:
Multifamily Housing
Jury Comments:
Nice inside/outside feel. There is no repetition, which is great. Really like the sandstone rainscreen – it is well detailed. The horizontal plans are fantastic. It's a great solution for this environment.
It's going to endure because it relies so heavily on landscaping. The materials and colors fit in well with the vegetation and desert surrounding it. Everything is designated towards keeping the building eco and energy friendly so it's nice to see that this serves multipurposes.
The AIA Housing and Custom Residential Knowledge Community established this awards program to emphasize the importance of good housing as a necessity of life, a sanctuary for the human spirit, and a valuable national resource. The categories are:
• Category One: One- and Two-Family Custom Residences
• Category Two: One- and Two-Family Production Homes
• Category Three: Multifamily Housing
• Category Four: Specialized Housing
Optima Camelview Village | Notes of Interest
The project intends to: (1) blend urban and natural desert landscapes to create a dynamic, public, pedestrian friendly environment, (2) integrate local contemporary architectural vernacular with the demands of high-density 21st century residential design, and (3) integrate green roof design and technology to enhance human experiences and ecological stewardship, providing landscaped space to every residence in the 7-story buildings within the site's 65' height limit.
The architecture embodies a site-sensitive vocabulary of deep-layered shades, shadows, colors, textures, and transparency. Overlapping and interconnected forms and voids create a diverse and provocative composition of space. Overhanging bridges and cantilevering landscaped terraces shade public pedestrian courtyards, creating shelter not just as covered space but as a serene sanctuary from the southwest desert. The landscaped courtyards are accented with water features, three swimming pools, spas, and monumental public art. The central promenade completes the north end of the City of Scottsdale's master-planned Marshall Way pedestrian connection in an active landscaped civic space lined with shopping, palm trees, fountains, and water fall that provides evaporative cooling and mitigation of urban noise.
Each dwelling is a dynamic combination of layered interior space expanding uninterrupted into lushly landscaped private terraces up to 3,000 square feet. Landscaping is as important an element of the architectural composition as the physical expression of the buildings; 17 acres of roof gardens were constructed on the 13-acre site. Through technical innovation resulting from extensive design exploration, engineering and a multi-year research collaboration with Arizona State University, a terrace planting system was developed with a soil depth of 6-8" that facilitated the economical construction of landscaped terraces on every floor of the seven story structures within the 65' height limit. The garden roofs provide a haven for urban wildlife, promote evaporative cooling, re-oxygenate the air, reduce dust and smog levels, reduce ambient noise, detain storm water, and thermally insulate and shield residents from the desert sun, all of which contribute to a sustainable urban environment.
The environmental benefits seamlessly integrate into the benchmark aesthetic and achieve a 20% reduction in design energy cost. One-third of the construction materials included recycled content; and one-third of the materials were acquired from local and regional resources. The project is positioned for LEED Silver certification.
Celebrating Arizona's Architecture - AIA Arizona Design Award Winners
Any Location, Climate, or Terrain
Last year, the AIA Arizona chapter celebrated its 50th anniversary and honored 13 recipients of design awards during its annual gala, held in Phoenix. The award-winning projects, judged by a jury of architects from Los Angeles, ranged from a mixed-use, green-roof condominium project to the restoration of a historic theater.
Additionally, AIA Arizona recognized firms, projects and individuals with special awards, including Weddle Tempe Transportation Center with the SRP Sustainability Award.
Designed to be adaptable to a range of climate conditions, this prototype prefabricated, modular home features recycled Cor-ten steel for structural and architectural components, solar panels and butt-glazed, high-performance glass walls to link the interior with the exterior. An elevated floor floats the home above its desert settings.
Relic Rock
Scottsdale, Arizona
David Hovey, Jr., AIA
Scottsdale, Arizona
2009 Design Award Winners - The American Institute of Architects, Chicago
The Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Chicago) hosted its 54th annual Design night at Navy Pier, where 24 local architecure firms were recognized with Design Excellence Awards. This year's winners were honored for exceptional work in four separate categories: Distinguished Building, Interior Architecture. Regional & Urban Design, and Divine Detail. A Jury of distinguished architects from around the country selected the winners from a field of 293 entries. I4design was in attendance with more than 700 architects, contractors and clients to see the awards unveiled.
DCHGlobal Inc Distinguished Building – Honor Award
Relic Rock
Scottsdale, AZ
AISC - American Institute of Steel Construction
2010 Innovative Design and Excellence Award
With nearly 100 entries received, the competition was particularly keen this year in AISC's annual Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (IDEAS2) building awards program. In honor of your firm's entry, Relic Rock, receiving high marks from the contest's planel of A/E/C industry jurors, please accept this National Certificate of Recoginition in commemoration f this achievemnent and the role that structural steel played in the project's success.
Congratulations on an excellent steel-framed building project.
2011 Best of Phoenix Award
It's not often that a building turns out looking exactly like the architectural drawing that inspired it. But somehow, Optima's location just north of Scottsdale Fashion Square materialized into a modern version of the famed hanging gardens of Babylon, chock-full of lush climbing plants and beautiful flowering bushes with blossoms the muted orange and purple colors of an Arizona sunset. The multi-tiered complex — which houses condos, restaurants, shops, and an art gallery — boasts a massive central courtyard, with gorgeous fountains and plush sitting areas dotted with colorful couches. The bottom floor of the open expanse offers an amazing view of the whole building, and it always makes us feel as though we're vacationing in a tropical paradise, without ever leaving the desert.
2011 The International Architecture Awards
Announces Optima as an International Architecture Award Winner for the Best New Global Design 2011
Optima Camelview Village has been awarded with the International Archtecture Award and will be on exhibition with all the awarded projects at the Centro Cultural Recoleta in Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 8 - 30, 2011.
Camelview Village
Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Architects: David Hovey & Associates Architects, Inc.
Client: David Hovey & Associates Architects, Inc.
Contractor: Optima Construction, Inc.
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2011 Optima Camelview Village Bestowed with National AIA TAP Award
The 2011 AIA Building Information Model (BIM) Awards Jury commends Camelview Village. Optima was recognized by an esteemed jury of its peers for its description and documentation submittal of its work on Camelview Village. The award was presented at the national AIA convention in New Orleans. Recording this BIM process is an important aspect in advancing the relevancy of architects and architecture both here and abroad. The TAP, or "Technology in Architecture" section of the AIA, monitors the development of computer technology and its impact on architecture practice and the entire building life cycle.
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2010 David Hovey receives Honor Award in design excellence
David C. Hovey, FAIA of Optima Inc. in Scottsdale and Chicago has received the Honor Award in design excellence, the highest award from the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects, for his work on the Skokie, Ill., project Optima Old Orchard Woods. The honor award the highest design award given annually by the AIA in Chicago.
2010 Design Excellence Awards American Institute of Architects
Distinguished Building Honor Award
Optima Old Orchard Woods
Skokie, Il. Architect: David C. Hovey, FAIA
Client: Optima Old Orchard Woods LLC
Contractor: Optima, Inc.
consultants: CS Associates, Inc. (structural engineering)
In massing, it's urban, but in setting, suburban. Old Orchard Woods is three interlocking towers that together contain 650 residential units and is sited to take in magnificent views west over a wooded forest preserve,
east to Lake Michigan, and southeast to Chicago's skyline. "It's an urban utopian vision," one juror observed. "It's the machine for living, in a garden," said another. They lauded the architect's deft sculpting of enormous
masses with cutouts, terraces and other relief. "The layering and the voids give it a strong relationship to its natural setting that is difficult to achieve with a project [that is] so large." The two big terrace platforms
and the glass-walled swimming pool area drew special merit, for maximizing residents' enjoyment of the natural setting that neighbors their homes. Jurors heartily complimented the broad-brush design moves of the buildings,
such as their rigorously organized patterns of concrete and mullions that "elevate a mundane curtain wall [into] a beautiful thing." They also zeroed in on the "very nice, truly simple glazing system" that clarifies the faces of the buildings.
Interior Architecture Citation of Merit
Camelview Village
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Architect: David C. Hovey, FAIA
Client: Optima Camelview Village LLC
Contractor: Optima Construction, Inc.
"This is not American housing," one juror declared about the 11 seven-story buildings that make up Camelview Village. Jurors detected a "European feeling" to this mixed-use, mostly residential project in the Sonoran Desert. They credited the building typology with creating "a quite sophisticated oasis of green space [with] generous living." The architects' project brief describes the composition as "a site-sensitive vocabulary of layered volumes, shades, light, colors, textures and transparency." Jurors christened the concept "humane" and the planning "sophisticated." Materials include travertine and bluestone flooring, sandstone panels, wood veneer cabinets and solid stone countertops.
2010 Optima Old Orchard Woods Honored
Project Innovations Merit Award: New Construction
Bridge between towers
For residents of Optima Old Orchard Woods in Skokie, IL, the unobstructed views of treetops stretching west toward the horizon, southeast to the Chicago skyline, and east to Lake Michigan offer a welcome respite after a hectic workday. What's surprising, though, is that this relaxing realization of the American Dream is actually part of a massive 2 million-square-foot, mixed-use, multifamily community that includes 675 condominiums, five indoor recreational facilities, street-front commercial amenities, and enclosed parking.
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European Centre for Architecture
2010 International Sustainability Award
The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design announced that David C. Hovey, Jr., AIA. has won the 2010 Green Good Design Award for Optima .
Architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning projects, product and graphic designs from over 31 nations were awarded with Green GOOD DESIGN 2010, representing the world's most important manufacturers and design firms and leading FORTUNE 500 corporations that are forwarding a new emphasis on a more sustainable design and environment worldwide.
This is the second year we have developed a very specialized edition of the GOOD DESIGN program, which was founded in Chicago in 1950. The idea is to emphasize the importance of sustainable design and to develop a public awareness program to the international general public about which companies are doing the best job in sustainable design for our world environments.
The original GOOD DESIGN program remains the oldest and most important Awards Program worldwide.
Green GOOD DESIGN received thousands of submissions from over 46 nations. Members of The European Center's International Advisory Committee - worldwide leaders in the design industry - served as the jury and selected over 100 products, programs, people, government, environmental planning, and architecture as outstanding examples of Green Design.
In April 2011, The European Centre and the Chicago Athenaeum will orgranize a special conference on the Environment in Hamburg, Germany, and the winning 2010 Green GOOD DESIGN products and buildings will be exhibited.
2010 Optima Camelview Village voted Best Condo Development
There aren't many amenities that Optima Camelview Village doesn't offer to its tenants. In addition to striking interiors that boast floor-to-ceiling glass walls and gourmet kitchens, those who call Camelview Village home also have access to an indoor swimming pool, a putting green, a fitness center, a dog park, a party room and much more. Plus, the lovely garden terraces are always a source of eye candy for those driving along Scottsdale Road.
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2009 Optima Camelview Village honored with The American Architecture Award
"The American Architecture Awards" have become the foremost, prestigious awards program for public recognition for Excellence in Architecture in the United States both nationally and internationally. The Awards identify new cutting-edge design direction, urban philosophy, design approach, style, and intellectual substance in American Architecture today.
AIA Chicago
2009 Distinguished Building Honor Award
Chicago Architect Magazine Nov/Dec 2009
Relic Rock
Scottsdale, Arizona
Architect: David Hovey Jr., AIA
Client: DCH Global Inc.
Contractor: DCH Global Inc.
Exploring ways to use architecture, technology and construction methodology in accord with the site's desert conditions and terrain, the architect settled on a few basic elements. An elevated floor would leave much of the natural ground untouched. Using recycled corten steel for architectural and structural components would make construction efficient and lasting. Solar panels would gather an abundant renewable resource. And a butt-glazed high-performance glass would allow indoors and out to merge. The aim was to use this house as prototype for subsequent buildings, but "with that kind of detailing, this house really rises above prototypes," one judge said. They felt that the treatment of the site was superb: "With the house raised above, the outdoor space becomes architectural itself," and it's up and down where the land is up and down, keeping [occupants] in touch with what they have." The use of corten, too, was right for the site: "The land is kind of raw. Corten fits this place." The ceiling detail, the grand stairs and the middle courtyard were all help up as exceptionally well thought out.
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AIA Arizona
2009 Distinguished Building Honor Award
HONOR AWARD - Optima Camelview Village, Scottsdale, Arizona
Area - 2 Million GSF
Architect: David Hovey & Associates Architect, Inc.
Owner: Optima Camelview Village, LLC
General Contractor: Optima Construction, Inc.
Civil Engineer: Kimley-Horn & Associates
Structural Engineer: Constructive Engineering
Design Mechanical Engineer: Peterson & Associates Electrical
Engineer: Peterson & Associates
Plumbing Engineer: Peterson & Associates; W-T Engineering
This 700-unit mixed-use condominium comprised of eleven terraced, bridge-linked buildings responds to the harsh desert climate by creating a pedestrian friendly shaded environment of interconnected landscaped courtyards. The community integrates local contemporary architectural features, elements, materials and vernacular with the demands of highdensity twenty-first century residential design. Seventeen acres of garden terraces were created on the twelve acre site through the extensive use of green roof technology and by locating all parking below grade in this project positioned for LEED Silver certification.
HONOR AWARD - Relic Rock, Scottsdale, Arizona
Building Area - 9,600 GSF
Architect: David Hovey, Jr., AIA
Relic Rock is a prototype for a sustainable, modular, prefabricated architectural building system designed to be adaptable to a range of different climates. The program was based on a sustainable building solution focused on the synergy of architecture, technology and construction methodology in accord with the regional desert environment of the site. The solution was the development of a two-way building system with an elevated floor to leave the natural desert as untouched as possible, recycled cor-ten steel for structural and architectural components, solar panels, and a butt-glazed high performance glass merging the outside environment with the interior of the home.
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2009 Optima Old Orchard Woods
Celebrated at 2009 Agents' Choice Awards
Favorite Model Units in the Suburbs
Chicago, November 9 - Chicago Agent magazine honored Optima Old Orchard Woods as one of the exceptional companies honored on Nov. 3rd in a ceremony celebrating the magazine's fourth annual Agents' Choice Awards.
The event was held at Smartrooms: A Spaces and Views Showroom in the Merchandise Mart. Over 150 guests were in attendance, representing each of the nominated companies and projects.
The Agents' Choice Awards winners were selected through an online poll where Realtors were asked to select their favorites in a number of categories. The nominees represent the top vote earners in each category, and the winners received the most votes overall. Thousands of responses were received from agents across the Chicagoland area to determine the results.
Download PDF - As seen in the November 9, 2009 Issue of Chicago Agent Magazine
2008 Best of 2008 Awards for Landscape/Urban Design/Residential
Optima Camelview Village was honored with three Best of 2008 Awards for landscape, urban design and residential design.
Southwest Contractor's 11th annual Best of Awards recognizes construction and design excellence in separate award ceremonies for Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. Over 650 entries were received in the Southwest region for Best of 2008, with 260 representing Arizona projects.
An independent jury comprised of industry experts selected winning projects based on design excellence, craftsmanship, innovation, teamwork and the project's contribution to the community and construction industry.
This year's Arizona panel of judges included: Linnea O'Dowd, LEED AP with Drewett + Brenden Architecture; Daniel Perez, IAIA with Leo A. Daly; Gary Worthy, AIA, ASLA from DLR Group; Ken Schacherbauer of Perini Building Co.; Brent Leif with Hunt Construction Group; Thomas Rogers with Northern Arizona University; Julie Stanton with Stanton Consulting; Richard B. Usher with Hill & Usher; David Beer with Sun Valley Masonry; Jay Graef with Graef Construction; and Ryan Eberle, P.E. with Kleinfelder.
Landscape/Urban Design/Residential
Optima at Camelview Village
This modernist-inspired architectural mixed-use project is a myriad of interconnected buildings and lush oasis roof terraces. Over 17 acres of landscaped green roofs on each level and rooftop aid in reduction of ambient temperature and energy consumption. The overall landscaping design is based on line of sight, leaping from one unit to the next. The cascading plants on the terraces and rooftop provide screening for each patio. The entire project is watered and fertilized by a computer-generated, two-wire irrigation controller. Photovoltaic panels have been incorporated into the rooftop gardens. With over 700 urban dwelling units, the six- and seven-story structures also include retail, resort-style amenities and below-grade parking.
2008 Agents' Choice Awards
Chicago, November 19 - Chicago Agent magazine honored 14 exceptional companies in a ceremony celebrating the magazine's third annual Agents' Choice Awards.
2008 Agents' Choice Awards winner for Favorite Overall New Development - Suburb
Optima Old Orchard Woods
We are deeply honored that Optima Old Orchard Woods has been chosen as the suburban Favorite Overall New Development by 16,000 agents in the third annual Agents' Choice Awards. We believe the building offers unique amenities that are compelling to condominium buyers.
Optima Old Orchard Woods is a luxury condominium complex consisting of three interconnected towers with bold voids and cantilevers, which create an exciting and architecturally inspiring structure. Designed by nationally respected architect, David Hovey, FAIA, this energy-efficient complex features seven levels of green roof sky gardens and exterior sunshades. The fine quality finishes and floor-to-ceiling windows with woodland and Chicago skyline views are unmatched.
Attractions include an indoor pool, spas, party room, fitness centers, indoor heated parking, convenience shopping, The Grove residents' park, a dog park and the forest preserve with golf course, walking trails and equestrian stables. The location is equally convenient to the city and suburbs, with excellent public transportation.
The staff at Optima Old Orchard Woods takes pride in its cooperative relationship with the Chicagoland brokerage community.
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2008 Environmental Excellence Award...
Optima Camelview Village was awarded the Crescordia Award, the highest award in its category, by Valley Forward Association for environmental excellence for multi-family residential buildings and structures. Valley Forward is an organization of large corporations, businesses, municipalities, government agencies, nonprofit groups and concerned citizens whose mission, since 1969, has been to promote a balance between economic growth and environmental quality throughout the metropolitan region.
2007 Optima Camelview Named One of the Top
Architectural Achievements in Arizona
David C. Hovey, FAIA and Optima Camelview Village was honored as one of the Top 18 Architectural Achievements in Arizona by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and AZRE magazine.
The AIA celebrated its 150th anniversary by teaming up with AZRE magazine to publish the "150 of Arizona's Greatest Architectural Achievements" in 2007.
From there, the panel narrowed down the selection to the top 18, with Optima Camelview Village being honored with one of the top designations.
2007 Arizona Foothills Names Sundance and
Windsong Platinum Award Winners
In April, Arizona Foothills magazine named the first two sculptures in a series of three pledged by David Hovey as their Platinum Award winners for the best art in the Valley.
The two sculptures, named Sundance and Windsong, are available for public viewing at Optima Camelview Village. We are told the editors of the magazine are holding their breath to see the third sculpture that will be unveiled later this year.
2007 American Institute of Architects Chicago Honors Optima Biltmore Towers with a Design Excellence Award
Divine Detail Award
In late 2007, Optima received a Devine Detail Award from the American Institute of Architects Chicago for the use of steel arbors to hold photovoltaic panels on the green roof of Optima Biltmore Towers.
This relaxing and livable environment atop the 15-story building, which also features a pool and spa, is accented by the incorporation of the arbors and green-technology solar panels.
"Clever integration," a juror said of the devices, which use green technology in a way that performs a simple function—providing shade
2006 American Institute of Architects Chicago honors Sterling Ridge Design Excellence Honor Award
Distinguished Building Award
This residence reflects the rugged terrain of the High Sonoran desert in Scottsdale, Arizona. Concrete walls blend with the earth; steel beams reflect the power and color of nearby rock outcroppings. Interior spaces seamlessly transition to exterior decks that function as canopies. Photovoltaic cells are suspended in the cantilevers to screen the interior from the desert sun while creating electricity to power the home. The jury said "It is kind of raw, which is appropriate to its desert setting. The photovoltaics are deployed elegantly—the first time I've ever seen that."
2005 Environmental Excellence Award Winner
Optima Inc.'s Sterling Ridge received the first-place Crescordia Award at the Valley Forward's 25th annual Environmental Excellence Awards gala on Sept. 9th which is Arizona's oldest and largest environmental competition. Sterling Ridge was honored as a structure with raw simplicity in its character, composition and assembly of materials that is consistent with the desert environment.
2005 American Institute of Architects Chicago honors Sterling Ridge with Design Excellence Awards
Interior Architecture Award - Residential
More than 20 years ago the Interior Architecture Award was established to promote interior architecture as a unique profession by honoring phenomenal projects. Interior architecture, for award purposes, is defined as the space within a building envelope, including lighting, finishes and furnishing designs. The jury studied a range of projects completed between Jan. 1, 2003 and May 1, 2005.
The residence takes its cue from the rugged desert. The fundamental idea is one of raw simplicity in the character, composition and assembly of materials consistent with the surrounding environment. Concrete walls blend with the earth, steel beams reflect the power and color of boulder outcroppings and red and green accents provide the punctuation naturally found in the vibrant vegetation of the desert. Spaces were left open to be viewed within and without. A minimal amount of furniture was used to accentuate the spaces' strength. "The interior is about being outside," said a juror. "The furnishings of the interior are the desert. This is the work of an accomplished architect."
Divine Detail Award - Photovoltaic Panels
The Divine Detail Award essentially honors architectural ingenuity. A jury seeks the results of a firm's fundamental architectural theory or design concept in their use of a particular material, detail or building technology. Execution must express the idea as a whole. Similar to other awards, only projects completed between January 2003 and May 2005, were eligible.
Spaces are protected from the sun by large, cantilevered roof planes composed of structural steel framing topped by photovoltaic panels. Each contains 72 thin opaque film cells laminated between two clear sheets of glass which rest on steel beams. The cells shade spaces in and around the residence while converting solar energy to power 60 percent of the home's electric load. The home received the highest attainable rating from the Scottsdale Residential Green Building program because of the photovoltaic panels. The jurors liked how the architect exploited the beauty of the photovoltaic panels to enhance the house's beauty. They also admired how the architect exploited the beauty of a product and technology. (Double winner, also received Interior Architecture Citation of Merit.)
2004 Design Evanston Award for Excellence in Multi-Family Residential Design
Optima Views was presented with The Design Evanston award for Excellence in Multi-Family Residential Design on Friday, May 21, 2004.
Optima Inc.'s Optima Views, a winner last year for Optima Towers, won this year for its multiple family housing project on Maple Avenue at Clark Street. The jury called it "an unabashedly modern, tall, dynamic and sensitive articulation of a tower" with "colorful, well integrated balconies." They noted how the perception of this angular composition changes "as you drive around town."
2003 American Institute of Architects Chicago honors Cloud Chaser with Design Excellence Award
Distinguished Building Award
Dramatic and serene, this desert house is thoughtfully composed with an honest use of modern materials. A walled forecourt providing entry to the glass-enclosed living space sets the stage for the integration of interior and exterior. Masses of concrete block positioned on the east and west for passive cooling contrast with nearly transparent walls to the south and long, downslope views of the surrounding desert. Textured steel sunscreens supported from the steel roof grid shade the glass and cast shadows across façade and floors. Shaded courtyards and earthen tones drawn from the desert provide a feeling of coolness and retreat.
2002 American Institute of Architects Chicago 2002 Design Excellence Awards
Chicago Design Excellence Awards on Friday, November 12, 2002 at Navy Pier. The award winners were on exhibition at the Chicago Architectural League through January 2003.
A strong site plan confidently mixes a few 100-year-old structures within a new development of town homes and condominiums. Undulating green terraces serve to downplay indoor parking and create an undisciplined landscape that negotiates spaces between the buildings' differing aesthetic systems. "[This project] is an excellent neighbor without having to mimic the architecture of IIT," the Miesian campus across the street. Glass and aluminum towers balance smaller concrete and masonry masses in "a compelling marriage of mid-rise apartment with a town house community."
Shadow Caster 78 was also honored with a Design Excellence Award for Interior Architecture.
For a Sonoran desert home that is all core and no shell, the idea was to allow interior spaces to flow seamlessly outside. Steel beams and generous cantilevers top ground-face concrete block walls, casting shadows that pass undisturbed through glass veils of frameless walls and windows. Interior colors and finishes, in a similar way, stress unity with the surrounding landscape. Furnishings—sisal rugs, leather upholstery, and solid walnut casework—are soothing, and building materials intentionally left raw project coolness while providing a neutral setting for artwork.
2003 Design Evanston Award for Excellence in Multi-Family Residential Design
Optima Towers was presented with The Design Evanston award for Excellence in Multi-Family Residential Design on Friday, April 25, 2003.
Adds visual interest to corner with interesting play of sky on building... animated design reflects retail and residential functions... nicely landscaped entry courtyard... scale and character contrasts nicely with adjacent building... orange balconies provocative and accentuating.
2002 Optima Shadow Caster Honored With the American Architecture Award
"The American Architecture Awards" have become the foremost, prestigious awards program for public recognition for Excellence in Architecture in the United States both nationally and internationally. The Awards identify new cutting-edge design direction, urban philosophy, design approach, style, and intellectual substance in American Architecture today.
