SAN FRANCISCO—The 23rd Antron Carpet Fiber Design Award grand prize was presented recently to Cohos Evamy Integrated Design for its innovative use of carpet in designing the PCL Centennial Learning Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. Judges selected this project as grand prize winner for its application of carpet that provides a counterpoint to the architecture of the space and an artful solution to the floor.

The firm was honored alongside other category and merit-winning designers and architects. Entries were evaluated on carpet application, creativity and originality and how well the design met client business objectives and challenges.

Built to celebrate the construction firm’s 100th anniversary, PCL Centennial Learning Centre is a model of sustainable design with a focus on professional development and staff training. Cohos Evamy designed the building to showcase PCL’s core business of construction. While most of the building features cast-in-place concrete and exposed building system elements, designers used carpet and suspended ceilings to highlight the centre’s gathering spaces. Atlas Carpet Mills’ Perspective, featuring Antron Legacy nylon, was selected for its sculptural pattern, which holds court with the materials around it while complementing the vertical/horizontal elements of the design.

“This building serves as a high-profile learning and gathering venue,” said Michelle Sigurdson, interior design associate, Cohos Evamy Integrated Design. “As such, the building sees high usage and heavy traffic through a variety of weather conditions. Tracked in snow, salt and grit are a reality. Antron carpet fiber was the right choice for this project because we needed a carpet that could stand up to staining and soiling while remaining attractive and meeting the LEED standard.”

Category awards were given to the following:

Healthcare: Perkins Eastman for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center - Surgical Center Platform in New York.

Hospitality: Durrant-Minneapolis for Cue: Restaurant and Bar.

Large Office: Gensler for Office of the Attorney General of Washington State, Seattle.

Retail: Gensler for Allsteel San Francisco Resource Center, San Francisco.

Grand Prize: Cohos Evamy Integrated Design also captured the Public Spaces category for PCL Centennial Learning Centre in Edmonton.

Merit awards were given to:

Healthcare: Looney Ricks Kiss Architects for Ortho-Memphis PC, Memphis, Tenn.

Large Office: HOK for AOL Los Angeles, Los Angeles.

Large Office: Corgan Associates for the Rent-A-Center Corporate Headquarters in Plano, Tex.

Public Spaces: EwingCole for Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, N.J.

Small Office: Gensler for Chemoil Corp., San Francisco.

“The projects honored this year show the creativity that carpet can inspire,” said Bobby Berrier, vice president, Invista Commercial Flooring. “More and more, designers are looking to carpet to provide inspiration for their projects, and mills are meeting this need with innovative products inspired by the unique fibers and yarn combinations available only with Antron carpet fiber.”

Judges for the Antron Carpet Fiber Design Award were Richard Carlson of Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, Tama Duffy Day of Perkins & Will, Eric Engstrom, founder and emeritus, EDG Interior Architecture & Design, Carol Jones of Kasian Architecture Interior Design & Planning Ltd. and Richard Pollack of POLLACK architecture.

Also at the festivities, Invista honored innovation with its Eighth Antron Carpet Fiber Product Innovation Award. Top honors went to Atlas Carpet Mills and Shaw Contract Group. The Avant Garde Collection from Atlas captured the gold award in the broadloom category and Shaw Contract’s Silk captured the gold award in the modular category.

Jurors recognized the Avant Garde Collection for its clever texture and playful, yet elegant patterns. And Silk “provides the opportunity to play with pattern and scale,” Engstrom said. “It features outstanding pattern and texture, and hits all the right buttons.”

Antron Carpet Fiber Product Innovation silver and merit awards were also given to carpet mills whose products excelled in style, aesthetics, color and usage in the marketplace. A silver award was given to Tandus for Line Dance in the broadloom category. Merit Awards went to Atlas Carpet Mills for Mod Squad Collection in the broadloom category and Lees Carpets’ Menswear Collection in the modular category.

Finally, the Antron Carpet Fiber Sustainable Flooring Performance grand prize was awarded to Ephrata Middle School in Ephrata, Wash., for carpet that has been performing since its original installation in 1984. The award recognizes sustainable practices through the use of performance-driven flooring choices in commercial applications. Ephrata was chosen for how well the original carpet continues to perform and fulfill its design objectives despite the challenges faced by foot traffic common in schools.