Chambless King Architects receives honors for design including The Mill apartments of Prattville
Article written the Elmore Autauga News
This past Saturday the Alabama Chapter of the American Institute of Architects hosted their Excellence in Design Awards ceremony at the Perdido Key Beach Resort as part of their annual conference. The juried competition reviewed nominations from architecture firms across Alabama and recognized projects that exemplify excellence in design. Only two projects received an Honor Award, the highest level of recognition AIA Alabama bestows, at this year’s ceremony—The Mill at Prattville and the Priceville Event Center. Both projects were designed by Chambless King Architects and had been recognized at the local level earlier this summer with awards from AIA Birmingham (an Honor Award and Citation Award, respectively).
“These projects had vastly different scopes, challenges, and budgets but the success and heart of both lies in the incredible quality of life improvements they make for their communities,” said John Chambless, AIA, senior principal at Chambless King Architects. “The recognition of their design at the local and now state level reaffirms a guiding principle of our firm and belief that good design and architecture is for everyone. We feel a deep responsibility to truly serve and invest in the communities where we work and are proud to have been part of two projects that will have such lasting, positive impacts.”
The Mill at Prattville
The Mill at Prattville was an adaptive reuse project that transformed a derelict cotton gin factory in Prattville, Alabama into a 127-unit apartment complex. Central to the project was the meticulous historic preservation of buildings dating from 1848 to 1957. Approved by the Prattville Historic Preservation Commission and National Parks Service, this preservation included façade restoration and repointing, steel window restoration, wood window restoration and replacement, and roof replacement. Care was taken to update the property with a design that provided modern amenities within open layouts and optimized natural light and views of Autauga Creek while preserving traces of the site’s industrial past through exposing, restoring, and/or repurposing structures and materials.
The city of Prattville was founded alongside the original mill and the successful completion of this 8-year project has restored the property’s physical and economic influence within the community. It is already proving to be a major catalyst for revitalization of the city’s Main Street business district, including renovations being led by Chambless King Architects at Spillway Park and on the adaptive reuse of the Picker House into a fine-dining restaurant.
Priceville Event Center
The Priceville Event Center is a 25,000-square-foot event, fitness, and sports venue in Priceville, Alabama’s developing town square. The center is comprised of a primary gymnasium and two multipurpose fitness support wings. The 10,100-square-foot gymnasium can be configured for various sporting events with tiered seating for 320 spectators or for community events, including banquets with up to 400guests.
Plans include pedestrian paths between the recreation center and city hall with ample lawn space designed to enhance activities at both locations and encourage community gathering. The exterior of the Priceville Event Center visually connects to city hall through complementing brick and cast stone veneers.
A more playful, industrial aesthetic is introduced through the gymnasium box, elevating the simple form into a space reflective of the energy a recreation center brings to its community. Chambless King Architects is honored to have served the Cities of Prattville and Priceville on these projects and looks forward to continuing its work in communities throughout Alabama.