Museum design receives national architecture award

Submitted by Kerynn Fisher
Phone: (907) 474-6941
07/18/07

The University of Alaska Museum of the North’s recent expansion continues to generate national attention, with the most recent recognition coming from the Society for College and University Planning. Last week at its annual conference in Chicago, the organization awarded its SCUP/AIA-CAE merit award for "Excellence in Architecture for a Building Addition" to the University of Alaska Fairbanks and design architects Hammel Greene and Abrahamson for the museum expansion project.

"To get this recognition is pretty significant," says university planner Deborah Horner, who accepted the award on UAF’s behalf. "The jurors on the selection committee are used to seeing signature projects by world-renowned architects. It’s nice to see UAF and the museum recognized in the same class."

The SCUP/AIA-CAE awards program is a joint effort between the Society for College and University Planning and the American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture for Education. The juried competition recognizes state-of-the-art planning and emphasizes excellence in higher education environments and settings. This year, more than 100 projects were submitted for evaluation in eight award categories. The committee selected nine projects for honor awards and five for merit awards. Visit www.scup.org/membership/awards/aia-cae2007_recips.html for a complete list of 2007 award recipients.

CONTACT: Kerynn Fisher, communications coordinator, University of Alaska Museum of the North, at (907) 474-6941 or (907) 378-2559.