modern | green | sustainable architecture
“From site, client, and experience, Frank Harmon spins a highly specific, easy-living modernism.” - Vernon Mays, Residential Architect magazine
by J. Michael Welton
Soon, on a site in downtown Raleigh that architect Frank Harmon puckishly likens to the shape of a pork chop, the North Carolina chapter of the AIA will break ground for a slim new Center for Architecture and Design.
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AIA NC Center for Architecture & Design as seen from Peace Street.
MAY 19, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Frank Harmon Architect PA, a Raleigh, NC-based architectural firm headed by Frank Harmon FAIA, is one of the top 50 firms in the nation, according to Architect Magazine’s 2009 “Architect 50” ranking.
The professional journal’s annual ranking of the top U.S. firms is intended to promote “a more well-rounded definition of success,” according to senior editor Amanda Kolson Hurley. “The criteria for inclusion comprise a trifecta of critical goals for every practice: profitability, sustainability, and design quality.”
Harmon’s small firm, headquartered in a revamped warehouse in downtown Raleigh, is no stranger to design awards and professional rankings. In 2005, Residential Architect selected Frank Harmon Architect PA as the “Top Firm of the Year.” In 2008, an award-winning “green” vacation home in the Bahamas Harmon designed was included in a Wall Street Journal list of “the most influential and inspiring houses built during the past decade.” That same project was featured in a special exhibit on green architecture in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
Harmon’s firm has received more North Carolina design awards than any other firm in the state and recently won three national accolades: two Custom Home Magazine’s 2009 Design Awards for residences in Raleigh, NC, and Charleston, SC, and an American Institute of Architect’s 2009 Housing Award for the Charleston home.
As one of Architect Magazine’s top 50, Frank Harmon Architect PA is in the company of such large and luminary firms as Rafael Vinoly Architects; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Perkins+Will; William McDonough + Partners; and Gwathmey Siegel & Associates.
“Most ranking of firms is by dollar volume,” observed Frank Harmon, who is also an adjunct professor of architecture at the North Carolina State University College of Design. “The Architect ranking, by contrast, includes design and sustainability, two things we love best.”
Harmon’s firm ranks 26th. The only other North Carolina firm to make the list is Little Diversified Architectural Consultants in Charlotte at 43rd.
Frank Harmon is recognized nationally as a leader in innovative, modern, and regionally inspired “green” architecture, and every project that emanates from his firm embraces the principles of sustainability. The Raleigh architect’s work has been featured in numerous magazines, journals, and books on the subject and he is a regular speaker at design conferences and conventions across the country.
Architect Magazine is one of HanleyWood LLC’s publications that focus exclusively on North America’s residential and commercial construction industry. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the online version of the journal is also available at www.architectmagazine.com.
For more information on Frank Harmon Architect PA, visit www.frankharmon.com.
March 5, 2008, 2008 (RALEIGH, NC) – Award-winning architect Frank Harmon, FAIA, principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh will join other notable contributors to the built environment to address new “green” building technology’s impact on design and business during UNC-Greensboro’s 2008 Design, Art, and Technology Symposium on Friday, March 28.
The theme for this year’s three-day symposium (March 27-29) is “Between the Lines: Innovation In Art, Architecture and Design.” Harmon and the other members of his panel will address building “as a sustainable process which caries broader implications of social, environmental and economic responsibility,” according to Anna Marshall-Baker, moderator for the panel. The other panelists are: developer Dennis Quaintance of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants & Hotels in Greensboro; green building systems engineering Isaac Panzarella of Consider Design in Raleigh; and John Meggs of Nature Neutral, a Charlottesville, VA, company that offers environmentally responsible building supplies.
“The intention of the design, arts, and technology symposium (dats) is to bring together communities, industries, and individuals in the Piedmont Triad to explore new and innovative approaches to design and technology,” said Marshall-Baker. “The objective is for the audience to see the interface of building technologies with design and business.”
Harmon’s panel discussion will take place from 2:30-3:30 in the Claxton Room of the Elliott University Center. Each panelist will introduce himself and his work, then the floor will be open for questions. For more information on the entire Symposium, visit www.dats.uncg.edu.
Frank Harmon is principal of Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, which recently won First Place in a professional design competition for a new headquarters building for the North Carolina component of the American Institute of Architects. His winning design is thorough “green,” encompassing both low-tech and high-technology innovations for sustainability. For more information, visit www.frankharmon.com.