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COMMENDATIONS, COVID, & COMMUNITY ACTIVISM

September 14, 2020

AIA Northern Virginia Design Awards

The Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) recently recognized twenty-six exceptional projects designed by Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. architecture firms. The winning projects were announced in a virtual celebration held on August 13. Reader & Swartz was honored to have three projects selected as winners, in three different categories (which we’ve been told is unprecedented):

Historic Architecture: Award of Merit: Rouss City Hall
Institutional Architecture: Award of Merit: Loudoun School for Advanced Studies
Residential Architecture: Award of Merit: The Crooked Bow Tie House

The celebration is now available for viewing on the AIA Northern Virginia YouTube Channel, and you can view all the winning projects in the 2020 Design Award Gallery.

Modern office space with person working at a desk, surrounded by cubicles, filing cabinets, plants, and industrial-style exposed ceilings.
Lobby with a person walking past a reception desk and another seated. Features a wooden staircase and modern lighting.
Some of the goals for the 2019 renovation to Rouss City Hall were to increase user friendliness and to foster better collaboration between departments.
Find out more here.
A modern building with a sloped roof and square windows stands in a green area, surrounded by trees under a blue sky.
Two buildings stand in a grassy area with trees, one older and one modern. A person walks nearby under a vivid blue sky.
The design for an independent school advances the future of education by creating adaptable spaces for various group sizes.
More information on our project page here. Photos by #JudyDavis @StudioHDP
Modern dining room with large windows, wooden table, contemporary chandelier, and fireplace. Cozy seating area with a person walking, and a dog nearby.
Modern house with angular design and large windows, set among trees and a clear sky. Elevated structure offers a unique architectural view.
The Crooked Bow Tie House is perched on a sloped site at the top of a scenic ridge line. It overlooks the Great Cacapon River Valley near Berkeley, West Virginia.
More information on our project page here.
Fashionable PPE

At Reader & Swartz, we aspire to stay fashionable and smart while socially distancing in the office. Our DEVO Energy Domes “collect energy that escapes from the crown of the human head and push it back into the medula oblongata for increased mental energy.” Remember what DEVO said, “When a problem comes along, you must whip it!”

Laura, Kevin & Nathan are currently working from home, and do not wear DEVO Energy Domes, in order to let their mental energy leak out into their children’s brains.

Grid of nine images features people and a dog; some wearing red hats and face shields. One person wears a patterned face covering.

Working remotely and staying safe in the office (and remotely).

Home & Design Portfolio

We were once again featured in Home & Design Portfolio’s 100 Top Designers. Check out the new issue here, and view our online portfolio of featured products at this link.

The image features a modern house by water and a stylish living room interior, promoting architecture, interior, and landscape design from top designers.

This year’s issue features the Crooked Bow Tie House and Stone Wood Blue

Local Exhibit Sponsorships

Our office has had the pleasure of sponsoring some recent local exhibits at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. Through this fall, the MSV’s seven-acre gardens will be home to a 10-foot-tall daddy long legs, an 18-foot-long praying mantis, and more gargantuan bugs from David Rogers’ Big Bugs! Inside the museum, An Adventure in the Arts presents a “who’s who” of twentieth-century American Art and includes works by Childe Hassam, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol, among many others.

Make plans to visit the MSV and enjoy the new exhibits and wonderful campus, right here in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley.

A person walks near a historic brick building with art sculptures on a grassy path, surrounded by lush trees under a cloudy sky.

David Rogers’ Big Bugs installation features larger-than-life installations on the campus of the MSV. This praying mantis, co-sponsored by Reader & Swartz, is shown lurking in front of the renovated Glen Burnie Manor House.

Licensing Update

Chuck got licensed in DC. They actually have a license card. “This could be important if I ever get pulled over for exceeding the public taste or for the improper use of  historical references.” – Chuck

A professional license card for an architect with a photo, issued by the District of Columbia, showing a person with glasses.

Chuck’s DC license card…

A person in a plaid jacket and sunglasses walks a fluffy dog on a leafy suburban street, surrounded by colorful sidewalk chalk art.

…we’re not sure if there’s a license that would ever cover this, though

Habitat for Humanity

We are excited to be working with Habitat for Humanity on five new houses, which will add to our 1992 North Kent Court affordable housing project (now known as Norris Village).

Architectural document with house plans, elevations, site map, and photo. Includes two people from Reader & Swartz Architects, Winchester, Virginia.

We were launched from obscurity into semi-obscurity by being published in the 1993 Progressive Architecture triannual Young Architects issue.

MSV Treehouse

We are also excited to be designing a treehouse at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley as a tribute to our friend and client, the late Dr. Peter Bullough. Dr. Bullough was an original MSV Trustee and also a MSV Board member. We hope the treehouse will inspire wonder and silliness in young and old alike.

Two people discuss a book indoors; one wears a vibrant, red poinsettia hat. Shelves, ducts, and framed artwork are visible in the background.

Dr. Peter Bullough and “Poinsettia Nate”, photo from our 2011 Christmas Dress-Up Day shenanigans