A perfect fit
by Aaron Rupar
Nine properties recognized for designs that blend in with their surroundings
Five years after its inauguration, 2011 marked the first year B.L.E.N.D. awards were available to construction projects outside of Southwest.
B.L.E.N.D. committee members received 26 submissions, nine of which were deemed award winning by a jury comprised of three architects and a city planner. Southwest remains more than well represented, as eight of the recognized projects were constructed in Linden Hills, Fulton and Tangletown.
B.L.E.N.D. stands for “buildings and landscapes enhancing the neighborhood through design.” Awards are given in three categories — residential remodel or addition, commercial remodel or addition and new residential construction.
Jurors evaluate projects based on the extent to which they ensure the privacy and light access of adjacent properties, embody human-scale development and encourage redevelopment and construction of buildings that are diverse and innovative but still compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.
While door-knocking during her successful campaign for the 13th Ward City Council seat in 2005, Betsy Hodges found that the proliferation of big homes was the issue Southwest residents were most concerned about. As a result of those concerns, the Fulton Neighborhood Association created the B.L.E.N.D. awards two years later.
The same year the award competition debuted, Hodges spearheaded an effort to change city ordinance so that the size of new and rebuilt homes could be no larger than half the square footage of each lot. She said she hasn’t heard concerns from constituents about too-large homes since.
Although home size may not be the issue it was five years ago, the awards live on as a reminder that thoughtful architecture and construction doesn’t just benefit the end user of a property — it benefits everyone in the surrounding neighborhood.
The 2011 awards will be presented during a ceremony Sept. 15, 7 p.m., at Vinaigrette, 5006 Xerxes Ave. S. in Fulton.
For more information, check out the BLEND awards website at blendaward.org.
New Residential Construction
2612 W. 45th St. in Linden Hills
Architect: Awad+Koontz, Inc.
Builder: Awad+Koontz, Inc.
A retired couple purchased this 1910 cottage with the intent to extensively remodel, but quickly realized it would be less costly to just preserve the foundation and build the whole thing from scratch.
The new house has the same footprint has the old except for a small addition in the back. To reduce the scale of the two-floor building, the roofline was refashioned in a Dutch Colonial style. A rain garden was also added.
B.L.E.N.D. jurors gave this project perhaps the most effusive praise of any of the award winners, noting that it is “the hands down winner.”
“They took a run of the mill home and gave it an edge… It looks like it always has been and always will be a part of the neighborhood,” they wrote.