At last night’s AIA San Diego Design Awards, I had the pleasure of handing over a number of award certificates to local architects and firms. The annual celebration, as noted by our jury of out-of-towners showcased a collection of designs and designers that further ratcheted-up the caliber of work going on in our county.

The SDG&E Energy Efficiency Integration Award went to the California Department of Motor Vehicles field office in San Ysidro, designed by Roesling Nakamura Terada Architects. Speaking of energy efficiency, AIA San Diego’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) awarded Kevin deFreitas for his own energy-conserving “Casa Familia” home in Point Loma; Francis Parker School’s middle- and upper-school campus expansion in Linda Vista, designed by Lake/Flato Architects; and the New Children’s Museum designed by Rob Wellington Quigley.

Matthew S. Ellis Blue Motif Ltd., was named young architect of the year (the YAYA award) for 2008. Lloyd Russell won last year’s award, and juror Soren Simonsen won the national version of this award previously.

Honor Awards went to the Kevin deFreitas’ “Casa Familia” (on tour recently as “Casa Futura”, an SDAF fundraiser); the James and Rosemary Nix Nature Center at the Laguna Canyon Neighborhood Park in Laguna Hills by Roesling Nakamura Terada Architects; a laboratory for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designed by Architects Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker; and Jonathan Segal’s Q, an unbuilt residence and office building going up in Little Italy.

Merit awards went to West Laurel Studios by Brett Farrow Architect Inc.; and an unbuilt St. Vincent de Paul Center transitional housing project for the homeless in East Village by Austin Veum Robbins Partners.

Citation awards were given to Neptune, a home in Encinitas by Steve Lombardi; the “Treehouse,” by Public Architecture + Planning, which also won a citation for the Lofts at 555 Sixth Avenue; and the adaptive re-use of the Candy Factory and Schiefer & Sons warehouse by Studio E Architects with consultation by Heritage Architecture.

One “Divine Detail” award went to “The Bench,” an acrylic and LED-lit art object and seat by M.W. Steele Group and Basile Studio in the Potiker Theater at the La Jolla Playhouse complex at UCSD.

Congratulations to all the winners, and to the attendees and sponsors for making the event truly a celebration of San Diego’s finest.

For more photos, read Roger Showley’s article HERE.