Stamford, CT Amenta Emma Architects received the Under 50 Employees Honor Award in the 2018 AIA CT Business Architecture Awards for the Quinnipiac University Brand Strategy Group project.

The Business Architecture Awards honor architects for solving business problems for Connecticut clients, thereby demonstrating the power of architecture to shape business performance, to improve peoples’ lives and provide a value added service to clients in a business setting that far exceeds the costs of that service.

For this project, a 19th century house was transformed into a 21st century powerhouse for ideas for Quinnipiac University’s Brand Strategy Group. This organization, which is responsible for the university’s marketing, communications, brand identity, and digital initiatives required a collaborative, contemporary environment. 

A vertical atrium unites upper and lower work spaces and brings the building natural light. The renovation provides private and team areas with applications such as cork wall and ceiling tiles, making them not only acoustically absorptive but tackable for big ideas.

The jury said, “This is a startling combination of exterior preservation and interior innovation. It seemed impossible to create, but reflects a new generation of thought on space planning. The integration of work force with mission pushed the vocabulary for an open, collaborative space. There was not one false, wasted move.”

Elizabeth Bender, assistant director of capital planning at Quinnipiac University, said, “The new design is purposeful and, in its transformation, embodies the same values as our new brand; to advance our tradition; cutting a new path versus following the pack.”