AIA North Carolina 2014 Firm Award Winner – Szostak Design, Inc.

The AIA North Carolina Firm Award is given to a North Carolina architectural company that has consistently produced quality architecture with a verifiable level of client satisfaction for a period of at least 10 years as an established presence in this state.

This award is the highest honor the Chapter can bestow upon a firm. This year the firm award goes to Szostak Design from Chapel Hill.

Szostak Design is an award winning architectural firm led by principal Philip Szostak, FAIA. The firm is well known for its unyielding commitment to design in a variety of project types including performing arts centers, recreational and fitness facilities, laboratories, schools and single-family residences.

In the last three decades, the firm has garnered eighteen state, regional and local awards for design excellence. The firm offers a full range of professional services including strategic planning, feasibility studies, master planning, architectural design and construction management. In addition, it has extensive experience with design/build and real estate development partnerships.

A leader in sustainable design, Szostak  has created an impressive portfolio of diverse projects that are noted for their environmental stewardship.

The original incarnation of the firm, Philip Szostak Associates (PSA), was formed in 1980 in Chapel Hill and quickly grew into one of the most respected design firms in the Triangle. Key projects during this period include Rosemary Square in Chapel Hill, the Dorothy Bardolph Human Services Center for the City of Greensboro, the Domino’s Pizza Regional Headquarters in Durham and the Wake Forest University Track and Soccer Stadium in Winston-Salem.

After ten years, PSA merged with NBBJ, then the nation’s second largest architectural firm. As a principal for NBBJ, Phil was responsible for leading design, planning and construction projects throughout the country. Key commissions from this period include the 1994 World Cup Soccer Complex, the Georgia International Horse Park for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, East Carolina University’s $60 million Science and Technology Building, WakeMed North’s East Campus Ambulatory Medical Center in Raleigh and the Keck Life Science Research Center and the Yoh Football Center at Duke University.

In 2001, Philip Szostak Associates was reestablished to provide comprehensive design services for notable regional projects including the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC); the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, the Buffalo Road Aquatic Center in Raleigh and Winmore, a 200-unit village style neighborhood in Carrboro that promotes affordability and sustainability.

In 2005, Philip Szostak Associates incorporated as Szostak Design.  Most recently, the firm has been involved in the design of large-scale mixed use developments and corporate master plans including a new boutique hotel adjacent to DPAC and Capitol Broadcasting Company’s corporate campus in Raleigh.

In 2009 Phil was named a Fellow in the AIA and a year later was the co-recipient of AIA North Carolina’s Kamphoefner Prize, an award for outstanding contributions to modernism in architecture.

In describing Szostak’s influence on his company’s facility expansion needs, Jim Goodman, president & CEO of Capitol Broadcasting explained, “Szostak Design listened to our needs and priorities, did their homework, and then produced a comprehensive design that exceeded our expectations. The new building simply works the way we wanted it to. The result is a perfect example of a design firm that knows how to artfully blend old with new.”

Bob Klaus, General Manger Durham Performing Arts Center or DPAC spoke about the firm’s signature project in his nominating letter, “When Szostak Design’s DPAC came to life in 2008, the progressive firm’s building also gave Downtown Durham a new standard of excellence in local architecture. Phil’s own involvement in the creation of DPAC as a developer and a fundraiser was integral to its very existence, and his passion delivered to an approving community its desired center point of a rehabilitated and venerated Southern business district. We realize that our status as a modern architectural landmark is due to Szostak Design’s innovative use of light, lines and spaces which make up the DPAC.”

And finally a fitting tribute was offered in support of the firm by Robert Shaw West, Chairman & CEO of Szostak client, The Republik, “Throughout the process, Phil and his staff were exceptional, dealing not only with the intricate nuances of design, but also with the painstaking logistics of a very complicated construction campaign – one that required extraordinary patience and perseverance. Throughout it all, Szostak Design was right there with me – collaborating, problem solving and always pushing the work forward. Firm of the Year? Hell I’d make them firm of the century if I could. And you can quote me on that.”

And with that, AIA North Carolina is pleased to present this year’s Firm Award to Szostak Design.