McCoy Building receives American Architecture Award

The McCoy Federal Building in Jackson, Mississippi, designed by Schwartz/Silver Architects, receives a 2013 American Architecture Award.

The Awards, organized by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, and the European Center for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies, were selected from hundreds of submissions. The program honored projects that “achieve a high standard of excellence in design, construction, planning, and sustainability”. Winning projects will be exhibited at the 14thInternational Biennial of Architecture in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before touring other cities internationally.

Constructed as part of the General Services Administration’s Design Excellence program, the modernization of this federal office building has dramatically changed the urban landscape in Jackson. The re-envisioned plaza provides a landscaped oasis in the city, and, by reaching out towards the corner of the site, the security pavilion creates an inviting entry point for employees and visitors.

The mandate for the renovation included improved accessibility, sustainability and space standards; new building systems; and the creation of a secure entrance for the building’s twenty federal agencies.  Inspired by the Mississippi River’s changing meanders, the pavilion’s entry canopies curve out to welcome pedestrians. The ribbon-like façades of the pavilion are clad in a white aluminum skin matching the color of the original tower. In front of that metal surface, aluminum ribbons support luminous and ephemeral glass shingles that hover free of the façade.

Schwartz/Silver is a Boston-based firm with a national portfolio of design projects, frequently blending existing and new architecture in site-specific and forward-thinking ways. For over thirty years the practice has focused on developing strong client relationships that produce buildings uniquely suited to their purpose and context.