2008 Service Award Winners

Tampa, FL (October 11, 2008) – The Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Institute of Architects announced the recipients of their 2008 Service Awards on Saturday, October 11th at their Annual Dinner Gala held at the Ritz Theatre in Ybor.  The Service Awards honor distinguished members, firms and laypeople for their contributions to the AIA, the community and the architecture profession.  Pete Karamitsanis, AIA, the chapter president presented the awards. 

Wannemacher Jensen

Wannemacher Jensen Architects was
presented with The Firm Award – one of the chapter’s highest honors.  The Firm Award is bestowed upon the member firm which has distinguished itself over the past five years with leadership, vision, community service, mentorship of young professionals and support of AIA programs.  This St. Petersburg-based firm was formed in 1992.  They have distinguished themselves recently by earning 9 awards for design excellence over the past 6 years.  As a small firm, all members are involved in service to the community, from promoting the profession through the Great American Teach-In to serving on a variety of boards.  Both firm principals are very active in community arts organization serving on the board of the Florida Craftsman Gallery, the Pinellas County Arts Council and the Gasparilla Arts Festival.

Stephanie Ferrell, FAIA

The chapter’s top individual honor, The Medal of Honor, was awarded to Stephanie Ferrell, FAIA.  She has demonstrated her commitment to saving and restoring beautiful architecture through her work in historic preservation.  She was instrumental to the passing of new ordinances to help preserve Tampa’s cigar factories.  She has also dedicated countless pro-bono hours to assist AIA Tampa Bay in its efforts to restore the Historic Federal Courthouse in downtown Tampa.

Randy Stribling, AIA

Randy Stribling, AIA received The Pullara Award, for outstanding service to the Chapter.  Stribling has been a devoted member of the board for the past 5 years.  He has risen through the ranks serving as Treasurer, Vice President and President.  In addition to the board service, he is also very active in CSI, the Seminole Heights Civic Association and his church.  All of this in addition to brass band practice and the Ferrari club.  He was also the chair of the Dinner Gala.

Harvey Goldstein, AIA

Harvey Goldstein, AIA received The Levison Award, for over 10 outstanding years of service to the AIA.  Goldstein has been a devoted member of the board since joining it in 2002 when he became board Secretary.  He has since served as the Treasurer, Vice President, President, Past President and he has been Chairperson for the chapter’s Design Awards Program four years and the Annual Dinner Gala for three. 

Bob Jeffrey

Bob Jeffrey received The Award of Excellence which is awarded to an individual who has made a significant positive impact on the built environment.  Jeffrey has served the city of St. Petersburg for over 11 years in various roles and led the process to revise the city’s land use ordinance to make the urban core more pedestrian friendly.

Jason Jensen, AIA

Jason Jensen received The Eduardo Garcia Award which is bestowed upon a young architect who shows, as Eddie did, an exceptional amount of creative energy, talent, and dedication to the cause of architecture. Jensen's work has been exhibited in shows and gallerys throughout the bay area. He even has a permanent exterior installation at the St. Pete Pier. In addition to his talent, his enthusiasm and dedication have earned him exceptional career growth at a young age. He is already a partner at the firm where he first came to work as an intern in 2002.

David Huggelstone

The President’s Award was bestowed upon four deserving recipients.  Mark House with the BECK Group was honored for support of the Chapter including a major contribution to AIA Tampa Bay - agreeing for his firm to be the contractor for the restoration of the Historic Federal Courthouse in downtown Tampa, at cost. 

Paulette Stribling

Paulette Stribling also received The President’s Award in recognition of more than 7 years of devoted service to AIA Tampa Bay as a key staff member, and for her role in the Chapter’s major growth and success during her tenure.  Stribling has successfully managed the chapter’s Contract Document sales - the chapter’s largest source of revenue and has assisted with making chapter’s 50+ annual chapter programs a success.

Mayor Pam Iorio

Mayor Pam Iorio was honored with The President’s Award for embracing the chapter’s vision for the redevelopment of the Historical Federal Courthouse and for her confidence in our small non-profit’s ability to do what developer after developer has failed to do.  In addition, her commitment to developing the River Walk, the exceptional growth in residential development downtown and the new Tampa Museum of Art all make her deserving of recognition.

Paul Renker, AIA

Paul Renker, AIA was also selected to receive The President’s Award for testifying before the Federal House Small Business Committee on the Retainage Rule, which allows federal agencies to withhold up to 10 percent of fees for architectural services.  In March, the S-B-A identified the 10-percent retainage clause as one of its top 10 federal rules in need of reform.  In July, Renker testified offering personal examples of how this rule negatively affects his small business and  provided recommendations on how the regulations can be changed. 

His testimony was a great contribution to the profession and to small firms nationwide.

Skanska

The chapter also introduced two new awards this year -  the Contractor’s Award and the Artisan Award. Skanska was recognized with the Contractor’s Award for accomplishing an outstanding built result on several of their projects.  The firm built their first project in Tampa in 1990 and have been doing outstanding work ever since.  Some of their recent projects include the Tampa General Hospital addition, which won the Chapter’s People’s Choice design award this year, the Moffitt South Expansion and Hernando Southeast High School.  In addition to their outstanding work, they are also great corporate citizens, regularly holding fundraisers for Metropolitan Ministries, Moffitt Cancer Center, the Pasco-Hernando Community College Foundation and many others.

William Stack

The Artisan Award recognizes an exceptional artisan that has personally crafted an element, or been responsible for the work of a specific trade within a building.  The winner of this year’s award, William Stack of Stack Design is a metal artisan specializing in custom architectural components and modern furniture fabrication.  He has recently contributed to projects at the new Mission of Saint Mary and Airside C at Tampa International Airport.  At The Mission, he was responsible for constructing the “curved wall”.  His work is modern and detailed and having his skills available to the architects in Tampa has certainly contributed to creating great works of architecture.

The AIA Tampa Bay Annual Design Awards Program recognizes excellence in architectural design by architects, intern architects and architecture students within the chapter’s territory. AIA Tampa Bay is the regional chapter of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) - the professional association for architects and those in the architecture field. AIA Tampa Bay represents 600 members in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Hernando, Citrus, Sumter and Pasco Counties. In addition to the design awards, the chapter provides a variety of programs including educational, networking, social, competitions, and more.



Chapter Service Awards
The Service Awards honor distinguished members, firms and
laypeople for their contributions to the AIA, the community and the architecture profession.

History of Recipients
See 2007 Winners

2009 Call for Entries

Garcia Award

The Eduardo Garcia Award is an award sponsored by the AIA and is bestowed upon a young architect who shows, as Eddie did, an exceptional amount of creative energy, talent, and dedication to the cause of architecture.

2009 Entry Package