Paying Dues Online

National Convention 2008

Schools Connections Update

AIA Photography Contest

Register for Canstruction

Host the Design Awards Gala

Featured Project:
  Claude Moore Recreation Center

Calendar

Visit the AIA Northern Virginia Website

The AIA and the Boston Society of Architects/AIA invite you to Boston in May to attend the AIA 2008 National Convention and Design Exposition, May 15–17. This year’s convention takes place in one of the most dynamic cities in America, the perfect place to immerse yourself in this year's theme, "We the People," which will explore the power of architecture on behalf of all people and society. It's the right topic for a growing profession that has been challenged to engage the public in designing a more sustainable world. Register early to get your first choice of some great tours, including an exclusive visit to the iconic Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. Electronic registration is up and running here. New AIA members are offered free registration for the convention and will receive an invitation to register by e-mail.

Meet the Architects Forum
Projected Date: March
This forum includes three to four architects plus one landscape architect that represent various size firms and styles of practice. The forum focuses on the practice of the architecture rather than the work of the invited architects.

Firm Pin-Up Series
Projected Date: March & April
This program features four architects that pin up a project for students to review and comment on. It is sort of a reverse jury where the tables are turned. Held once a week for four weeks and coordinated with Meet the Architects Forum schedule.

Both events take place at Virginia Tech’s Washington - Alexandria Architecture Center in Alexandria. If you are interested in participating in either of these events, please contact Jennifer Byl.

AIA St. Louis is once again pleased to host the AIA Photography Competition, open to all architects actively registered in the U.S., AIA Associate members, and AIAS members or student members with any AIA chapter. The top 15 entries will be exhibited at the AIA 2008 National Convention in Boston, May 15-17. These entries, plus some 40 additional images selected from all submitted, will be featured in a 2009 engagement calendar. (A complimentary calendar will be provided to each entrant whose image(s) are selected.)

Cash prizes will be:
First place, $500
Second place, $400
Third place, $300
Albert Fuller Award, $200 (named after the founder of the competition. The winning photograph must be shot in the U.S.)

The entries must have an architectural theme or contain some element of the human-made environment. The jury will use the photographic interpretation of the subject matter as their main criterion for judging, not the architecture itself. Images previously published and/or pending publication or cash-winning images in previous AIA Photography competitions are not eligible. The entry fee is $15 for AIAS members, $30 for AIA members, and $50 for nonmember registered architects. Entrants may submit up to five images for each entry fee and may enter as many times as they like. Please note that all submissions must be on a CD. Entries are due March 1. Visit AIA St. Louis’s website for rules and entry forms.

Claude Moore Recreation Center
Loudoun County, VA
Wisnewski Blair and Associates, Inc.

Wisnewski Blair and Associates, Inc. (WBA) in association with Moody·Nolan, Inc., provided comprehensive architectural design services for the 89,000 GSF state-of-the-art Claude Moore Recreation Center in Loudoun County, VA.

The complex includes a recreation center with staff and administrative areas that conjoins to a 13,000 GSF community center with an eight classroom pre-school. Designed to reflect the rural vernacular of Loudoun County, selected design elements such as red brick, a metal roof and silo ensured the facility successfully fit the overall context of the area.

Elements within the recreation center include: a 50 meter competition pool complete with diving boards and a moveable bulkhead; a 10,000 GSF aquatics facility that holds a 6,000 GSF leisure pool natatorium, 30 foot water slide which ascends into the building’s silo, and therapeutic spa pool.

A three-lane 1/16 mile elevated jogging track overlooks a fitness atrium with free weight and circuit training areas adjacent to a 30 foot rock climbing wall with five different climbing routes. Behind the rock climbing wall is a 10,000 GSF multi-purpose gymnasium with a divider curtain for simultaneous basketball and volleyball play. The recreation center opened in January 2007 followed by the community center addition in November 2007.

January 16 - AIA Northern Virginia Lunch Series: IBC 2006
Noon-1:00p, at the Chapter House, 205 South Patrick Street, Alexandria. This program will review significant changes in the 2006 edition of the International Building Code (IBC). After attending this session, participants will be able to identify the significant changes in the 2006 IBC, determine under what conditions these changes are applicable and recognize the impact of these changes on building design features. 1 AIA/CES HSW LU. Free. Registration required. To register, contact the Chapter House at reservations@aianova.org or (703) 549-9747.

January 24 - Young Architects Forum Committee Meeting
6:30p, at the Chapter House, 205 South Patrick Street, Alexandria. For additional information, e-mail committee chair Francisco Grimaldi.

February 11 - AIA Northern Virginia Board Meeting
4:30p-6:00p, at the Chapter House, 205 South Patrick Street, Alexandria. For additional information, contact the Chapter House at aianova@aianova.org.

February 13 - AIA Northern Virginia Lunch Series: HVAC Architectural Design 101
Noon-1:00p, at the Chapter House, 205 South Patrick Street, Alexandria. Participants will learn HVAC definitions, how heating and cooling loads are calculated, and the variables that play a role in the calculations. Differences between constant volume and variable air volume systems will be discussed as well as mechanical system selection criteria and options. Participants will also gain an understanding of common engineering challenges and why coordination between the architect and engineer is critical for a successful project. Presented by Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. Vice President and Branch Manager Lew Brode and Vice President and Senior Electrical Engineer Igor Livshin. 1 AIA/CES HSW LU. Free. Registration required. To register, contact the Chapter at reservations@aianova.org or (703) 549-9747.

February 27 - ARE Prep Series: Roundtable
Time and location to be determined. The Young Architects Forum 2008 ARE study seminars begin with the Roundtable featuring Kekku Lehtonen, AIA, Assistant Director for ARE Development at NCARB. Registration information and a more definitive schedule will be available in late January.

February 28 - AIA Northern Virginia Open House
6:00p-8:00p, at the AIA Northern Virginia Chapter House, 205 South Patrick Street, Alexandria. Please join us at our annual Chapter Open House. Visit with colleagues, meet the Chapter Board, enjoy some refreshments and learn about upcoming events. The Open House is free and reservations are not necessary.

March 6 - A Conversation with Local Code Officials
10:00a-2:30p, at the Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library, located at 5005 Duke Street, Alexandria. There is sometimes a perception by architects that one jurisdiction may require more or different information for a building permit submission than another or that a locality interprets a code section differently than elsewhere in Virginia. Resubmitting permits costs the firm and your clients money. Now is your opportunity to sit down with code enforcement representatives from several local jurisdictions and have an open discussion about the permit submission process and to hear about the pending transition from the 2003 to the 2006 Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code.

The cost is $65 for AIA members and $80 for non-members. Lunch will be provided. Pre-paid registration is required. Attendance is limited and our code seminars typically sell out quickly. AIA members may pay with a credit card through the Chapter’s website or by mailing a check to the Chapter House. Non-members must pay by check, payable to AIA Northern Virginia, 205 South Patrick Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, and include contact information. 4 AIA/CES HSW Learning Units are available for attending the event.

April 17 - Philip Johnson: Architecture as Art, at The Kreeger Museum
6:30p-8:30p, members of AIA and their guests are invited to join Dr. Erich Keel, Head of Education, for a wine and cheese reception, talk and walk-through of the exhibition, Philip Johnson: Architecture as Art, on view at The Kreeger Museum March 15 - July 31, 2008. The museum is 2401 Foxhall Road NW, Washington, DC 20007. The AIA Northern Virginia Chapter is co-sponsoring this event with the Kreeger Museum and offering 1.5 AIA/CES Learning Units. Tickets are $30 and expected to sell out quickly. For reservations, call (202) 338-3552.