RSA Nationally Honored for Hunter Museum of American Art

(Los Angeles, CA) - Los Angeles-based Randall Stout Architects, Inc. (RSA) was recently honored with the 2004 American Architecture Award for the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Presented by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, the American Architecture Award recognizes exemplary design from the top architecture firms in the United States.

The awards program is organized and curated by Christian K. Narkiewicz-Laine, architect, critic and President/Director of The Chicago Athenaeum. This year, under the auspices of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) in Dublin, the award jury includes prominent members of Ireland's architecture and design community such as Ms. Maria Kiernan of Kearney Kiernan Architects, Mr. Joe Miller of the Royal Institute for the Architects of Ireland, and Mr. Gary Mongey of Box Architecture and former RIAI President. The Hunter Museum of American Art is recognized among other top U.S. designed projects that are located worldwide, at sites such as Singapore, Kuwait, Great Britain, Chile, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Leading this award winning team is President and Principal in Charge, Randall Stout, FAIA. Directing numerous design projects in the U.S. and Germany, Stout's extensive design experience encompasses museum, civic, office, commercial, institutional, industrial, recreational and residential buildings. Known for dynamic forms, state of the art technology and environmental sustainability, his work has garnered national and international attention, earning important awards including numerous American Institute of Architects Honor Awards, a Top Ten Green Award and the German SOLTEC Award for Design Excellence and Energy Innovation.

Derthick, Henley & Wilkerson Architects, RSA's associate architect, is also working on this museum project, and was responsible for the museum's 1973 addition.

Scheduled to open Spring 2005, the Hunter Museum of American Art project is an integral component of the $120 million 21st Century Waterfront Plan, an ambitious public/private redevelopment partnership to revitalize Downtown Chattanooga. The $19.5 million project entails 29,200 square feet of new construction and 38,000 square feet of renovation. Establishing a fresh public image for the museum, Randall Stout Architects' master plan transforms the museum's previously isolated site into an easily accessible and prominent public space. Drawing from the natural setting of the site, the dynamic building design embodies a contemporary interpretation of the rock outcroppings and strata in the cliffs below the museum. Its bold exterior and materials palette, consisting of glass and aluminum curtain wall, oxidized zinc cladding and a stainless steel roof with angel hair finish, will be a dramatic contrast to the museumÕs turn of the century mansion home.

Randall Stout Architects, Inc. and the Hunter Museum of American Art project will be featured in the Chicago Athenaeum's 2005 Awards exhibition and catalogue.