Design kitchen wins architectural award

The Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen has won a 2009 Design Award from the Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). These awards recognize excellence in architectural design by Houston-based architects and for work built in the area. The project was among 12 selected from 115 entries.

Honored in the “renovation and restoration” category, the design kitchen is in a building on the north side of campus that used to house the Hicks Kitchen, once Rice’s central food-service facility. Today, it is a space for cross-discipline and cross-technology training designed to include not only engineering students but also those in the humanities, social sciences, architecture and business.

Stern and Bucek were the architects of the 12,000-square-foot space, which includes not only the central work area but also conference rooms, a classroom, a wet lab, a machine shop and a welding shop. The Rice project manager was Anzie Gilmore.

The awards were presented at the AIA/Houston Design Awards dinner March 26.