BrickStreet has been informed that our building is being honored April 19th by the West Virginia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects as being among the outstanding architectural design projects of 2007.

According to the AIA, the winning projects are "Entries of exceptional or unique design solutions for architectural and interior design. Projects that demonstrate successful resolution of formal, functional, and technical requirements with exemplary skill and sensitivity will be recognized with Honor or Merit Awards."

Thirty building projects were entered and seven were honored. Three of those buildings received Honor Awards, which is their top tier of honor, and four, including BrickStreet, received Merit Awards, which is AIA’s second tier honor.

Each building was judged on design narrative, drawings, and digital photographs of the project.

The judging panel, all from the Washington, DC area, had these comments about our building: "The Jury thought that this project is an outstanding adaptive reuse of an innocuous, 'big box' retail shell into a light-filled, simply detailed office building. There was a terrific effort to bring perimeter day lighting deep into the interior workstations and offices. The detailing is clear, elegant and expressive of the existing structure."

This means that Associated Architects, our architects on this project, and BBL-Carlton, our general contractor, did an outstanding job changing an old, dark and vacant retail anchor store into a professional office building that helps us provide the best possible customer service to our policyholders. Not only that, but the building is an investment and commitment to our future as West Virginia’s workers’ compensation carrier of choice.

Something that the jury did not say was that our building was the only total renovation project among the projects honored or that BrickStreet moved from groundbreaking to building occupancy in just 10 months. Renovating an old building to meet our needs, and doing so in less than a year, was the best financial investment for our company and policyholders because it saved us the time and cost associated with new construction.

The Honor Award winners are:

• The Upshur County Courthouse, Buckhannon
• Fairmont State University Student Activities Center, Fairmont
• Erma Byrd Center, Beaver

The Merit Award winners are:

• BrickStreet
• West Pike Street Parking Facility, Clarksburg
• St. Bernard Chapel, Snowshoe
• Darco International Office Building, Huntington

BrickStreet is proud of our corporate headquarters, not only because of the way it looks, but more than that, how it helps us serve you.