Hartford, Connecticut – Tai Soo Kim Partners, a Hartford based architectural firm has won its 37 th award for design excellence. This most recent award honors the firm's design of a new middle school located within an historic district in West Hartford. The project was selected from a pool of 150 submissions in a competition sponsored by the American Institute of Architects – Connecticut Chapter. The award will be presented at the Annual Awards Dinner on Friday, December 4 th at the Wesleyan Center for Film Studies.  

This is the 3 rd honor bestowed on the school project since its completion in the Summer of 2005. The 1st award was from the West Hartford Historic District Commission in recognition of the magnificent adaptive reuse/restoration of the original Shepard House. The 2nd was from the Council of Educational Facility Planners International, which acknowledged the functionality of the design and the infusion of natural light which enhances student learning, as well as it reduces energy consumption.  

The design entails 74,000 square feet of new construction along with the restoration of the 12,000 square foot house built in 1900. The AIA – CT jury selected the project, commenting on its “marvelous unity” referring to the manner in which the new construction “incorporated very large size elements with the scale of the existing (residential) building”.  

The jurors included: David Leatherbarrow, Douglas Moss, AIA, and Samuel White, AIA. More information on Bristow Middle School can be found under the case studies section of this website.