The following was compiled from a press release sent to GOOD Morning Wilton.
Architect and Wilton resident William D. Earls was awarded an Alice Washburn Special Commendation for Sensitivity to Preservation for the adaptive reuse of the Gores Pavilion for the Arts in Irwin Park in New Canaan by the Connecticut Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
In its award, the jury commented on “…the sensitive, almost invisible hand, of the restoration and rejuvenation of this building.” Jury members added, “The restoration architect should be commended for the sympathy, restraint and delight they brought to the repurposing of a formerly unloved relic of a more playful and possibly imaginative time.”
Articles on the award for the Gores Pavilion were published in the July 2019 issues Connecticut Magazine and Traditional Home Magazine.
The Connecticut Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Connecticut) Alice Washburn Award program is to acknowledge excellence in traditional house design. Winners are honored in three categories: new construction, accessory buildings, and additions/renovations.
This award is named for the distinguished Connecticut residential architect Alice Washburn, an early 20th century Connecticut designer and builder, largely self-taught, whose work is known for its thoughtful stylistic and programmatic invention.
The award was presented to Earls at the AIA gala in December. At last year’s AIA event, William D. Earls was recognized with a medal for his 25 years of membership.
The Gores Pavilion for the Arts in Irwin Park was originally a pool house designed by Landis Gores, one of the “Harvard Five” architects, for the Irwin family. The Irwin estate was purchased by the town of New Canaan to be used as a public park. A group of preservationists, under the auspices of The New Canaan Historical Society, raised donations for the buildings restoration. The pavilion operates as a museum with a period mid-century modern room and art galleries devoted to modern art. For additional information contact the New Canaan Museum and Historical Society at 203-966-1776.
Earls’ also won this year’s “A-List Award” in the category of Traditional Architecture Less than 7,000 Square Feet, for a renovation of a Tudor style house in Greenwich, sponsored by Moffly Media. The award was presented at a gala at the Stamford Palace Theater. The project was published in a recent issue of Greenwich Magazine.
His work was also recognized in the July issue of Westchester Magazine for a Bali-inspired pool house in Greenwich.
William D. Earls is the author of The Harvard Five in New Canaan, published by W.W. Norton. He has lectured about architecture at Modernism Week in Palm Springs California and at Rudolph Hall at the Yale School of Architecture.