Joyner Park Community Center earns third AIA Award

AIA Aspire, the southeast region of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), announced the Joyner Park Community Center (JPCC) project as the recipient of an Aspire Citation Award during the 2023 AIA Aspire Conference on September 10 in Asheville, NC. Hosted by the AIA state chapters of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, Aspire is a regional design conference for the Southeast’s built community to inspire, collaborate, and design the future.

The Aspire Citation Award jury, led by architect Tom Chung of Leers Weinzapfel Associates, offered the following about the JPCC project:

“This is a project that is inspired by its agrarian context and explores its vernacular farm building structure, in both form and materials for design integration. It’s simple, practical organization makes best use of the volume necessary given the program and the run-around track along the perimeter, while a few well-placed openings keep the structure and the building envelope thermally efficient. The extended gable at the main entry provides human scale while recalling the porch of the historic agrarian structures on site. This consistency of form appropriate to its site is deserving of a Citation Award.”

The award was presented to JPCC architect and engineering firm Clark Nexsen. A copy of the award will be presented to the Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department.

This marks the third AIA Design Award to be presented to the JPCC since its opening n 2019. The NC Chapter of AIA presented a Merit Award to the center in November 2021, while the AIA Triangle Chapter awarded a Merit Award in April 2021.

Clark Nexsen designed the 32,000-squre-foot JPCC, while CLH Design provided landscape architecture and civil engineering, and Barnhill Contracting Company served as the Construction Manager.

Designed to blend in with E. Carroll Joyner Park structures and the natural habitat, the facility was planned and constructed in a manner consistent with the park’s natural beauty and rustic feel. Located at 701 Harris Road, Joyner Park Community Center features a walking track, gymnasium for basketball, volleyball and pickleball, multi-purpose rooms, dance studio and kitchen. For more information, including a virtual tour and a current listing of programs and classes, visit wakeforestnc.gov and search “JPCC.”