Glavé & Holmes Architecture (G&HA) is pleased to announce the Colonnade Renovation at Washington and Lee University received an Honor Award from the SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture.

The project earned the Honor Award award in the Rehabilitation, Restoration or Preservation category. The jury selected eight Honor, eight Merit, five Honorable Mention and three Special Citation entries to award this year. Winning entries will appear on Society for College and University Planning’s web site, and profiled in the June issue of Learning By Design magazine.

Washington and Lee University’s front campus was designated a National Historic District in 1973, described by the Department of the Interior as “one of the most dignified and beautiful college campuses in the nation”. In the center stands the Colonnade, comprised of the five most iconic and interconnected buildings in the historic district: Washington, Payne, Robinson, Newcomb, and Tucker Halls. Glavé & Holmes was responsible for the phased rehabilitation of the Colonnade, which spanned eight years.

The Colonnade is deeply revered, making any change sensitive. However, restoring its vitality was paramount to the University: code deficiencies, inefficient infrastructure, and worn interiors reflected decades of use. Understanding the beloved nature of the buildings, the University established lofty goals for this undertaking. The renovation preserved the iconic character of each building, adhering to Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, while integrating technology in classrooms and collaboration spaces to enhance current, evolving pedagogies.

Members of the Colonnade renovation design team will be honored at the 2018 SCUP Annual Conference in Nashville on July 16. You can learn more about the award and the other honorees here.