AIA Baltimore’s Honors Arboretum Community Center with 2024 Excellence in Design Award / by Rick Schneider

ISTUDIO is proud to announce that the Arboretum Community Center has been honored with AIA Baltimore’s 2024 Excellence in Design Award! This recognition underscores our commitment to creating thoughtful, impactful, and innovative spaces that enrich communities. We celebrate this achievement with our exceptional partners, the DC Department of General Services and the DC Department of Parks and Recreation, whose shared dedication to sustainability, inclusion, and design excellence continues to inspire our work.Together, we are committed to shaping a more sustainable and inclusive future for all DC residents. This project exemplifies our unwavering dedication to innovation, sustainability, and design excellence. It reflects our passion for crafting spaces that are not only visionary but also profoundly impactful for the communities they serve. As we look ahead, we remain energized to continue pushing boundaries and delivering projects that inspire and elevate the human experience. Stay tuned for more transformative designs as we build a brighter future together!

The Arboretum Community Center exemplifies innovative design, sustainability, and community collaboration. As D.C.'s first mass timber building, it revitalizes a historic field house, merging preservation with cutting-edge technology to create a net zero-ready recreational space. The gym, built with cross-laminated timber, captures carbon and saves 134 metric tons of CO2, while green roofs, rainwater retention, and energy efficiency measures enhance sustainability. Community engagement shaped the design, doubling the field house's capacity with features like a half-court gym and outdoor amphitheater. The project honors the past through seamless integration of historic and modern elements, setting a new standard for sustainable, inclusive community spaces.