B3 Architects, a Berkus Design Studio Receives 9 Awards in International Competition

B3 Architects, a Berkus Design Studio brought sustainable design to the forefront in this year's 2009 Gold Nugget Awards by receiving Project of the Year for Yanonali Court, a LEED Platinum Certified enclave of single family homes in Santa Barbara, CA. The firm garnered eight other awards in this regional and international competition, including a Merit Award for the UC Mosher Alumni House. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) July 14, 2009 - Santa Barbara, CA - B3 Architects, a Berkus Design Studio garnered nine awards in the 2009 Gold Nugget Awards (GNA), including Project of the Year, the highest honor given in the regional and international competition. Open to 14 Western states and all international countries, competition winners flag trends in the built environment in a variety of categories, including sustainable design, special use facility designs and new home designs.

Four of B3 Architects’ award winning projects are located in Santa Barbara and demonstrate a surprising diversity of design in a city mostly known for its Mission style architecture.

Project of the Year was bestowed upon Yanonali Court, an intimate enclave of five luxury homes located in Santa Barbara, a joint effort of Keith Rivera and Barry Berkus of B3 Architects, a Berkus Design Studio, Jeffrey Berkus Architects and Berkus Construction. Upon first glance, Yanonali Court appears to be just another beautiful luxury project with wrought iron detailing, red tile roofs and a central fountain courtyard paying homage to Santa Barbara style. But further investigation reveals a LEED Platinum Certification through the US Green Building Council for adherence to one of the most stringent environmental design guidelines in the nation. Locally, it served as a pilot project for the Santa Barbara Built Green program. Yanonali Court also received a Grand Award in the category of Outstanding Sustainable Residential Neighborhood.

Across town, a contemporary Santa Barbara single family home on Equestrian Avenue known as the “Urban Crashpad” received a Grand Award in the category of Outstanding Custom Home under 5,000 square feet. Team members include B3 Architects, a Berkus Design Studio and contractor Jack ‘N Tool Box. Measuring in at a sleek 894 square feet, the home demonstrates how small spaces can live large through the right combination of height, light and extension of view planes. The GNA Judges Statement described it as an “artful restraint we can all learn from.”

In the same category of Outstanding Custom Home under 5,000 square feet a stone clad residence located in the Birnam Wood community of Montecito, California garnered a Merit Award in the GNA competition. B3 Architects, a Berkus Design Studio teamed with Young Construction of Santa Barbara to complete the 4,500 square foot home. The Asian influenced design functions as a series of destinations capped with timber beams and clerestory windows beneath sloped tile roofs.

The University of California Santa Barbara Mosher Alumni House received a Merit Award in the category of Outstanding Special Use Facility. Prominently located in front of Campbell Hall, the UC Mosher Alumni House has been dubbed “the living room of the campus”, serving faculty, students and alumni alike with both formal and informal gathering places, while showcasing university accomplishments. Contemporary in form, the building incorporates a multitude of sustainable principles and materials and approximately 75 percent of interior spaces are positioned to receive maximized daylighting, reducing dependency on artificial lighting. Team members included Soltek Pacific as contractor and UCSB Design, Construction Services as developer and B3 Architects, a Berkus Design Studio.

B3 Architects, a Berkus Design Studio also received a Merit Award for the renovation of a 1968 Alisal Ranch residence in Solvang, California. The residence was originally designed by Cliff May, known as the father of the California Ranch House, and the renovation honored the original intent of the structure by keeping the skeletal form intact, while introducing contemporary technology and functionality. B3 Architects, a Berkus Design Studio paired with Randy Barnes of Signal Construction on the renovation.

New to this year’s competition was a new open category “Imagining the Future” created to generate forward thinking sustainable home and neighborhood concepts. All three of B3’s entries garnered Grand Awards, addressing sustainability on an economic, environmental and social level. Concepts include 1) “Big Box Lofts,” a sustainable mixed-use design concept to replace vacant mega stores, 2) “Reinventing the Edge: A Botanic Community”, a reinvented garden suburbia and 3) a case study for New Orleans after Katrina introducing raised landforms and estuaries. Team members for these innovative designs included Barry Berkus, Keith Rivera, Lorne Henkel, Jason Backhaus, Micah Winkelstein and Kristin Anderson.

For photos and additional details about B3 Architects, a Berkus Design Studio Grand Award and Merit Award projects, please contact Kristin Anderson at 805.966.1547 or kanderson ( @ ) b3architects dot com dot

Visit us online at
www.b3architects.com.

To view a full list of GNA Award Winners, see www.goldnuggetawards.com

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