MBH Architects Honored for North Beach Residence

Alameda-based MBH Architects has earned an Award of Merit in the multifamily housing category of Residential Architect magazine's annual design awards competition.

San Francisco's North Beach Malt House adaptive reuse and renovation project was one of about 800 entries among 24 categories in the awards program. The judges said the multifamily category had several impressive entries.

The seven-story Malt House, a century-old industrial building, was converted into residential units. The project also included the design and construction of three adjacent residential buildings.

A landscaped courtyard with two existing grain silos, innovative lighting and a water flume recalling the original malting operations, acts as a connecting design element for the four residential structures. Construction materials included stainless steel, hardwood floors and large windows.

The judges said the project illustrates the importance of utilizing existing buildings for multifamily use and designing contextual structures to create urban infill projects on scarce land.

The buildings respect and enhance the site's original purpose and signify an important step toward the rational use of buildings and land, the judges said.

KMD Captures Best of Class Award for Shanghai Project

San Francisco-based architect KMD received the MIPIM Future Project Architectural Review Award for its innovative building design of the Jie Fang Daily News and Media Group headquarters in Shanghai, China.

KMD's Jie Fang proposal was awarded Best of Class in the competitive office category.

The project is currently in the design development stage with construction set to begin in the fall.

An international jury, chaired by Peter Davey, the editor of Architectural Review, praised the design's meticulous attention to Jie Fang's environmental surroundings in terms of urban design and human qualities. The judges took into consideration the building's gathering spaces that "foster interaction."

"Our goal was to create a building that incorporated elements of Shanghai's traditional Chinese history and culture, yet reflected the progressive thinking of the community," said Juan Diego Perez-Vargas, a KMD principal.

Tasked with developing a new edifice to contrast with Jie Fang's existing corporate building on the same city block, the KMD design team responded with an energy-efficient, green architectural design defined by three environmentally sensitive, curved surfaces.

"The MIPIM Award is the most prestigious distinction in the property world," said Werner Welter, managing director of DB Real Estate Investment of Germany and president of this year's jury.

The 15th Annual MIPIM Awards competition recognized work from architectural firms in the categories of offices, retail, hotel and leisure, urban communities and sustainability, urban master planning, residential and tall buildings.

The awards ceremony took place last month at the Palais des Festival in Cannes, France.