The AIA Dallas Design Awards recognizes outstanding work by Dallas architects, both in the metropolitan area and across the country. The purpose of the awards program is to honor the architects, clients, and consultants who work together to achieve design excellence.
Congratulations to all of this years award recipients!
About the Hillen Residence:
This home is designed to connect the family to their natural surroundings by weaving into the landscape and graciously opening to expansive views of native Texas flora. The form of the plan was developed through an iterative process that examined circulation patterns, efficiencies, privacy layers, and targeted moments of directed views. The resulting layout will enhance the user experience by bringing in daylight, framing views to nature, creating privacy between living zones, and bringing the family together in an open and engaging living space. Site specific, the plan also integrates into the landscape and in doing so avoids disturbing all existing trees which will remain to enrich the beauty of the landscape. Through the very nature of its fingering structure, this house creates a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces with dynamic movement, form, and experience.
A variety of sustainable design strategies and technologies were incorporated into the project. The building was configured to use the existing trees to help shade the home. Besides the use of more common techniques such as highly porous crushed stone drives, high albedo roofing, deep overhangs, and highly drought tolerant grass and plantings, an abandoned drive located on the site was cut into modules and used for site pavers and retainage. This material acted as a counter balance to the new forms and materials; grounding the structure into the history of the site.
