Sept. 22, 2020

South Dakota architecture firms captured three American Institute of Architects South Dakota merit awards and one people’s choice award during the organization’s recent annual conference.

Co-op Architecture of Sioux Falls, Aberdeen and Rapid City won a merit award in preservation and adaptive reuse for its design of Look’s Marketplace in collaboration with BCV Architecture + Interiors. The space was renovated to include a butcher shop, bakery, coffee and ice cream counter, brewery and restaurant.

Co-op Architecture also won a merit award in architecture for its design of the Britton Event Center, a community facility in Britton used for events, concerts and activities.

Koch Hazard Architects of Sioux Falls won a merit award in preservation and adaptive reuse for McVicker Plaza in Vermillion, which was renovated and restored in partnership with the Vermillion Area Chamber & Development Company. The building is home to the chamber and provides retail space and additional collaborative space for the community.

TSP Inc. of Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Watertown captured the People’s Choice Award in partnership with SmithGroup for its design of the Jewett Regional Science Education Center, located along Northern State University’s primary entry in Aberdeen.

The center creates a new portal onto the campus for students, faculty and the Aberdeen community.

Matthew Kreilich, design principal and partner of Snow Kreilich Architects in Minneapolis, served as this year’s juror, considering 12 submitted projects. Kreilich was honored with the AIA National Young Architect Award for outstanding design leadership and was recognized with the Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal’s 40 Under 40.

AIA South Dakota also honored longtime Sioux Falls architect Ward Whitwam with its 2020 AIA South Dakota Legacy Award.

Whitwam, a native South Dakotan and World War II veteran, opened a Sioux Falls architecture office in the early 1950s, designing schools, churches, elderly care facilities, medical facilities, corporate offices and private residences. His design of the state’s iconic concrete tepees along Interstate 90 was recognized in 2015 when the rest stops were named to the National Register of Historic Places.

The organization posthumously honored Rapid City businessman and philanthropist Ray Hillenbrand, who played a significant role in the revitalization of the city’s downtown, as its 2020 Champion of Architecture honoree.

And finally, AIA South Dakota presented president’s awards for service to the organization and accomplishments for the profession to its immediate past president, Patri Acevedo of JLG Architects; Brian Rex, chair of the SDSU department of architecture; and AIA South Dakota executive director Angela Lammers of Cetera Services LLC.