“Built by Women” program honors two SmithGroup project teams

Two SmithGroup women-led project teams will be honored on March 18, 2016 by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation’s Built by Women program in a celebration held at the National Building Museum.

The American University Washington College of Law team comprising of Project Designer Lori Cappuccio, Project Architect Jamie Lee, Project Architect Cristina Bump, Electrical Engineer Sara Lappano, Mechanical Engineer Cindy Cogil, and Interior Designer Cheryl Brown, received a team nomination for their work rehabilitating a beloved DC landmark to create a new campus for the school. The new campus opened in January 2016, and is comprised of three buildings: a renovation of the 1911 Immaculata School building and two new wings.

SmithGroup’s other honored “Built by Women” project, the Catholic University of America Father O’Connell Hall, has been lauded for the leadership of Su Sie Lim and Gigi Soto. The project is modernization of a previously vacant and underutilized historic structure to house several key departments of university services, as well as a careful restoration of Heritage Hall to serve as the University’s new premier banquet facility.

The Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF), a national education and research 501(c) 3 non-profit organization has begun the second version of Built By Women (BxW), its competition for structures and environments led by women working in architecture, landscape, engineering, and construction.

The BWAF is working to change the culture of the building industry so that women’s work, in both contemporary practices and historical narratives, is acknowledged, respected and valued. As a measure of their work, BWAF launched the Built by Women program last year in New York City. This year in the Washington, DC edition, the program received over 110 nominations, and ultimately selected 36 women-built sites to receive awards.

Following the celebration on March 18, there will be an exhibit at the National Building Museum to coincide with Women's History Month. Walking and audio tours are in the planning stages, as well as panel discussions and pop-ups at some of the winning sites. Visit the National Building Museum events calendar for more information.

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