the jury
The AIA Northern Virginia Design Awards Committee selected a jury of distinguished architects from outside the Northern Virginia region and with the assistance of another AIA component. The jurors are asked to be aware of and consider the AIA Framework for Design Excellence during deliberation. The jury may decide to award multiple awards in a particular category and/or not award any project in a category. The jury’s decisions are final.
Jury I – Single Family Residential, Historic, and Conceptual|Unbuilt Architecture
Julie Hacker, FAIA
Stuart Cohen & Julie Hacker Architects LLC
Julie Hacker, FAIA, is a practicing architect and partner in the firm Stuart Cohen & Julie Hacker Architects LLC. She received her BA in Psychology and Minor in Dance from Wesleyan University, and received her M.Arch from the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois - Chicago, where she was the recipient of the Chicago Women in Architecture Award. A published author, her residential work has been published nationally and internationally has received the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) 2019 Award for Excellence in Design, Academics and Scholarship, and the Chicago Merchandise Mart's 2017 Hall of Fame award for Architecture. Serving on both local and National CRAN/AIA Boards, she has organized multiple CRAN speaker presentations for the AIAU and was a primary organizer of the National Chicago CRAN Symposium in 2022. Hacker currently sits on the Chicago Executive AIA Board and is VP of Sponsorship and Development.
April Hughes, AIA
HPZS
April Hughes, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, is President and Managing Principal at HPZS. A graduate of the University of Kansas, Hughes was named 2014 AIA Chicago Dubin Family Young Architect of the Year, and in 2013 she was the recipient of the AIA Illinois John Wellborn Root Award. Most recently, Hughes was named a DuPont Emerging Leader at the Design Futures Council Sustainability Summit and led the AIA Chicago Board of Directors as Board President in 2020. A champion of integrated design, Hughes has extensive sustainable design experience, including four platinum-rated LEED® projects and two net-zero energy designs in the City of Chicago – both firsts for the State of Illinois. Hughes' award-winning work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Shore Magazine, Chicago Realtor, the Living Well Network, Elle Décor and numerous other publications and has been reviewed by architectural critic Blair Kamin. Hughes is currently a Director serving on the Board of Directors for Chicago's oldest women’s domestic violence organization, Connections for Abused Women and their Children (CAWC).
Nathaniel Lielasus, AIA
Northworks
Nate Lielasus, AIA, is a Principal at Northworks Architects and Planners where he focuses on custom single-family residences and private club work around Chicagoland. Lielasus received his Master of Architecture from Tulane University and is a licensed architect in the state of Illinois. Off hours, Lielasus is active on the board of directors for Friends of Historic Second Church, a preservation organization whose mission is to preserve the art and architecture of the National Historic Landmark Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago's South Loop. Lielasus is a founding member of the Custom Residential Architects Network (CRAN) Chicago chapter, where he now serves on the steering committee and was chair of the 2023 CRAN Chicago Symposium.
Scott A. Rappe, AIA
Semple+Rappe Architects
Rappe is a partner at Semple+Rappe Architects, an award-winning Chicago-based firm focused on enriching life through design. He is an active AIA member, serving on many committees and on the boards of AIA Illinois and AIA Chicago, where he served as its president. Rappe received a Bachelor of Architecture with Distinction in Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1987, and a Master of Business Administration from the same institution in 1991. His undergraduate education included a year of architectural study in Versailles, France, a semester in Rome, Italy, and a practicum at the Stoneyard Institute at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in New York City. In addition to professional practice, Mr. Rappe has served on the boards of the East Village Association, Preservation Chicago and the Chicago Architecture Center.
Jury II – Commercial, Institutional, Commercial Interiors, and Transporation Infrastructure
Jacob Chartoff, AIA
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Jacob Chartoff, AIA, is an Associate Principal and Technical Design Lead in SOM's Chicago Interiors Studio. Chartoff strives to encourage a balanced approach to the design profession, acknowledging the importance of practical and tangible experience. Chartoff earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Massachusetts College of Art and a Master of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has contributed to the success of multiple award-winning projects, with work being published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Domus, Architectural Record, Dwell, and MAS Context.
Katherine Darnstadt, AIA
Latent
Katherine Darnstadt, AIA, NOMA, LEED® AP, is the founder of Latent Design, a progressive architecture and urbanism practice leveraging civic innovation and social impact to design more equitable spaces and systems. Since founding in 2010, Darnstadt and her firm have prototyped new urban design systems to advance urban agriculture, support small business through Boombox, created spaces for youth makers, advanced building innovation though Blank Box, and created public space frameworks through Design Trust Chicago. She and the firm have been published, exhibited and has been featured widely, most notably at the International Venice Architecture Biennial, Architizer A+ Awards, Chicago Ideas Week, NPR; is an American Institute of Architects Young Architects Honor Award winner and is a member of Crain's Chicago 40 Under 40. She previously taught at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University.
Breah Page, AIA
LBBA
Breah Page, AIA, is a Senior Project Architect at LBBA, currently working on multi-family affordable housing, and community and cultural-focused design. Her architectural experience ranges to include higher education and large scale civic and master-planning projects like Wrigley Field and Shedd Aquarium. She finds herself continually working at the intersection of new and old, with experience managing many adaptive reuse and historic preservation projects. Page finds purpose and perspective exploring architecture's ability to reinforce culture and community and believes collaborative communication with project stakeholders is vital to give a voice to those most affected by development and design. Page actively serves on the board of Chicago Women in Architecture and holds the title of President of the ACE Mentor Program Associate Board. She has mentored and filled the role as team leader for over 11 years, serving Chicago-area high school students and promoting diversity within the design community. In 2023, Page was recognized with AIA Chicago's Dubin Family Young Architect Award.
Robin Randall, FAIA
LEARNING at Legat
Robin Randall, FAIA, ALEP, LEED® AP BD+C, a Principal and Director of PreK-12 Education, leads clients in a customized design process that transforms their mission and purpose into meaningful, budget-conscious, forward-thinking learning environments. She builds exceptional collaborative teams around projects including master plans, facilities assessments, renovations, and new educational facilities.For over 30 years, Randall has designed and planned award-winning educational facilities ranging from early learning centers to high schools, as well as specialty learning environments. Her designs push the boundaries of sustainability by emphasizing student and building performance. Elevated to The College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects for her notable contributions to the advancement of the profession of architecture in 2022, Page earned a Fulbright Scholarship to Denmark in 1990 and continues her academic pursuits today as a guest juror at Ball State and Judson Universities, as well as a presenter at regional, national, and international conferences. She regularly applies her research to her Legat practice with think tanks, competitions, workshops, and evidence-based design projects. Page holds Bachelor of Environmental Design and Bachelor of Architecture degrees from Ball State University.
Jury I – Single Family Residential, Historic, and Conceptual|Unbuilt Architecture
Julie Hacker, FAIAStuart Cohen & Julie Hacker Architects LLC
Julie Hacker, FAIA, is a practicing architect and partner in the firm Stuart Cohen & Julie Hacker Architects LLC. She received her BA in Psychology and Minor in Dance from Wesleyan University, and received her M.Arch from the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois - Chicago, where she was the recipient of the Chicago Women in Architecture Award. A published author, her residential work has been published nationally and internationally has received the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) 2019 Award for Excellence in Design, Academics and Scholarship, and the Chicago Merchandise Mart's 2017 Hall of Fame award for Architecture. Serving on both local and National CRAN/AIA Boards, she has organized multiple CRAN speaker presentations for the AIAU and was a primary organizer of the National Chicago CRAN Symposium in 2022. Hacker currently sits on the Chicago Executive AIA Board and is VP of Sponsorship and Development.
April Hughes, AIAHPZS
April Hughes, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, is President and Managing Principal at HPZS. A graduate of the University of Kansas, Hughes was named 2014 AIA Chicago Dubin Family Young Architect of the Year, and in 2013 she was the recipient of the AIA Illinois John Wellborn Root Award. Most recently, Hughes was named a DuPont Emerging Leader at the Design Futures Council Sustainability Summit and led the AIA Chicago Board of Directors as Board President in 2020. A champion of integrated design, Hughes has extensive sustainable design experience, including four platinum-rated LEED® projects and two net-zero energy designs in the City of Chicago – both firsts for the State of Illinois. Hughes' award-winning work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Shore Magazine, Chicago Realtor, the Living Well Network, Elle Décor and numerous other publications and has been reviewed by architectural critic Blair Kamin. Hughes is currently a Director serving on the Board of Directors for Chicago's oldest women’s domestic violence organization, Connections for Abused Women and their Children (CAWC).
Nathaniel Lielasus, AIANorthworks
Nate Lielasus, AIA, is a Principal at Northworks Architects and Planners where he focuses on custom single-family residences and private club work around Chicagoland. Lielasus received his Master of Architecture from Tulane University and is a licensed architect in the state of Illinois. Off hours, Lielasus is active on the board of directors for Friends of Historic Second Church, a preservation organization whose mission is to preserve the art and architecture of the National Historic Landmark Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago's South Loop. Lielasus is a founding member of the Custom Residential Architects Network (CRAN) Chicago chapter, where he now serves on the steering committee and was chair of the 2023 CRAN Chicago Symposium.
Scott A. Rappe, AIASemple+Rappe Architects
Rappe is a partner at Semple+Rappe Architects, an award-winning Chicago-based firm focused on enriching life through design. He is an active AIA member, serving on many committees and on the boards of AIA Illinois and AIA Chicago, where he served as its president. Rappe received a Bachelor of Architecture with Distinction in Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1987, and a Master of Business Administration from the same institution in 1991. His undergraduate education included a year of architectural study in Versailles, France, a semester in Rome, Italy, and a practicum at the Stoneyard Institute at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in New York City. In addition to professional practice, Mr. Rappe has served on the boards of the East Village Association, Preservation Chicago and the Chicago Architecture Center.
Jury II – Commercial, Institutional, Commercial Interiors, and Transporation Infrastructure
Jacob Chartoff, AIASkidmore, Owings & Merrill
Jacob Chartoff, AIA, is an Associate Principal and Technical Design Lead in SOM's Chicago Interiors Studio. Chartoff strives to encourage a balanced approach to the design profession, acknowledging the importance of practical and tangible experience. Chartoff earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Massachusetts College of Art and a Master of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has contributed to the success of multiple award-winning projects, with work being published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Domus, Architectural Record, Dwell, and MAS Context.
Katherine Darnstadt, AIALatent
Katherine Darnstadt, AIA, NOMA, LEED® AP, is the founder of Latent Design, a progressive architecture and urbanism practice leveraging civic innovation and social impact to design more equitable spaces and systems. Since founding in 2010, Darnstadt and her firm have prototyped new urban design systems to advance urban agriculture, support small business through Boombox, created spaces for youth makers, advanced building innovation though Blank Box, and created public space frameworks through Design Trust Chicago. She and the firm have been published, exhibited and has been featured widely, most notably at the International Venice Architecture Biennial, Architizer A+ Awards, Chicago Ideas Week, NPR; is an American Institute of Architects Young Architects Honor Award winner and is a member of Crain's Chicago 40 Under 40. She previously taught at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University.
Breah Page, AIALBBA
Breah Page, AIA, is a Senior Project Architect at LBBA, currently working on multi-family affordable housing, and community and cultural-focused design. Her architectural experience ranges to include higher education and large scale civic and master-planning projects like Wrigley Field and Shedd Aquarium. She finds herself continually working at the intersection of new and old, with experience managing many adaptive reuse and historic preservation projects. Page finds purpose and perspective exploring architecture's ability to reinforce culture and community and believes collaborative communication with project stakeholders is vital to give a voice to those most affected by development and design. Page actively serves on the board of Chicago Women in Architecture and holds the title of President of the ACE Mentor Program Associate Board. She has mentored and filled the role as team leader for over 11 years, serving Chicago-area high school students and promoting diversity within the design community. In 2023, Page was recognized with AIA Chicago's Dubin Family Young Architect Award.
Robin Randall, FAIALEARNING at Legat
Robin Randall, FAIA, ALEP, LEED® AP BD+C, a Principal and Director of PreK-12 Education, leads clients in a customized design process that transforms their mission and purpose into meaningful, budget-conscious, forward-thinking learning environments. She builds exceptional collaborative teams around projects including master plans, facilities assessments, renovations, and new educational facilities.For over 30 years, Randall has designed and planned award-winning educational facilities ranging from early learning centers to high schools, as well as specialty learning environments. Her designs push the boundaries of sustainability by emphasizing student and building performance. Elevated to The College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects for her notable contributions to the advancement of the profession of architecture in 2022, Page earned a Fulbright Scholarship to Denmark in 1990 and continues her academic pursuits today as a guest juror at Ball State and Judson Universities, as well as a presenter at regional, national, and international conferences. She regularly applies her research to her Legat practice with think tanks, competitions, workshops, and evidence-based design projects. Page holds Bachelor of Environmental Design and Bachelor of Architecture degrees from Ball State University.