Introducing the Admire Awards

Although Inside Columbia features a local home tour in each issue of our magazine, we couldn’t help but feeling like the local building, architecture and interior design community deserved a little more recognition. That’s why this year we launched our ADMIRE — Architectural Design Mastery & Interior Room Excellence — Awards: To recognize design excellence throughout Boone County. That, and to provide some absolutely breathtaking inspiration for your next build, remodel or spruce-up.

We received entries from local businesses across three categories: commercial architecture, whole home design and kitchen design. Entries were judged based on a rubric that awarded points for qualities such as thoughtful materialization, innovation, conceptual clarity material selection and craftsmanship. The winners highlighted in this section garnered the most points from our panel of professional judges located throughout the country.

Meet the Judges

AMY HERMAN, ASID

Amy HermanAmy Herman is the president of the American Society of Interior Desingers Missouri East chapter and is currently an interior designer with Design & Detail in St. Louis. Her prior work includes founding Gateway Interior Design, a Chicago based company which won multiple ASID awards in 2014 and 2015, as well as project manager/senior designer with a commercial interior design firm in St. Louis.

FRED L. BRANDSTRADER, AIA

Fred BrandstraderFred L. Brandstrader is the vice president of construction for Hyatt Corporation and is a registered architect with 30 years of professional experience. His past work has included supervising and managing the planning, design, construction, technical services and building due diligence processes for hotel real estate portfolios and real estate development projects and acquisitions. He is the president of the AIA Illinois Chapter and AIA Chicago Foundation.

CALEB SPANGENBERGER, AIA

Caleb SpangenbergerCaleb Spangenberger is currently president-elect of the American Institute of Architects Idaho Chapter and an architect with Williams Partners in Sun Valley, Idaho. His past work has included designing commercial projects at tvsdesign in Atlanta, Georgia and working on the Marriott Marquis project in Washington DC. His current work at Williams Partners includes high-end residential design and construction.

Kitchen Design

Kitchen Design
Photo by Mason Jones

This home’s country setting is reflected in the remodel of its 289-square-foot kitchen designed by Columbia Showcase Kitchens and Baths. The remodel was a portion of a larger home renovation project completed over the span of five months by Ragland Construction and designed by architect Linda Phillips.

The warm tones of the ivory and river rock painted cabinets create a cozy and comfortable space, while the texture of the backsplash tile ties in the rustic elements of the strapped copper hood and the wood beams. A luxury vinyl floor throughout complements the space, done by Betsy Ames with Carpet One.

The goal, according to Kristin Caldwell, a designer for Columbia Showcase, was to expand the kitchen into a more functional space for the owners. “By removing a large walk-in pantry once behind the old galley kitchen, we were able to create designated work zones and wide aisles for a functional showcase-worthy kitchen,” Caldwell says.

Whole Home Design

[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”15″ sortorder=”110,109,108,107,106″ display=”basic_imagebrowser”]This modern farmhouse, designed by Anne Tuckley Home, LLC, involved an extensive demo, re-design and remodel. Tuckley worked with Russ Anderson of Anderson Homes on the 3,442-square-foot project, which was completed this July.

According to Tuckley, the goal of the project was “to completely demo and remodel a dated home into a modern farmhouse.” The main updates included relocating the master bath and laundry room, replacing flooring, countertops, cabinetry, updating the stairway and enlarging the home’s windows.

“The windows were enlarged to allow panoramic views of the garden and to allow natural light into the home,” Tuckley says.

White oak was utilized as an accent piece above the bar in the kitchen and carried throughout the home in the powder room ceiling and master bath wall and ceiling.

The project took an estimated $100,000 to complete, and is ongoing. Tuckley is currently working on updating the exterior of the home, renovating the front porch and adding a pergola and outdoor fireplace.

Commercial Architecture

[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”16″ sortorder=”105,103,104,101,102,100″ display=”basic_imagebrowser”]The Gadbois Professional Office Building, located in south Columbia near Gentry Middle School, is a striking example of commercial architecture emphasizing both function and beauty. Coil Construction selected SOA Architecture, Timberlake Engineering and A Civil Group to design the project. The building was completed in October of 2019.

The two-story, 18,000-square-foot commercial office building hosts a 9,000-square-foot professional dental office on the second floor, with future lease and support space on the ground floor.

“We balanced an upscale design standard with an aggressive budget to achieve the owner’s project goals of using cost-effective materials and holistic building design,” Nick Borgmeyer, associate principal/architect at SOA Architecture, says.

“Our goal was to create a professional office building with multiple commercial lease spaces accessed from a single, showcase lobby, while providing a contemporary design aesthetic of strong horizontal lines and multiple exterior materials.” Altogether creating a unique architectural presence and commercial curb appeal.

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