de leon & primmer architecture workshop

De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop is a collaborative design studio focusing on public projects with a cultural, civic or not-for-profit basis. DPAW’s working methodology draws inspiration from regional traditions of craft and fabrication, placing an emphasis on the potential of conventional materials and construction methods. Through an immersive process of research & investigation, the studio cultivates an understanding of contextual specificity as a nuanced relationship between place, time and local culture. In implementing this approach, the Workshop purposefully embraces a rigor of ‘reduction’ aimed at a clarity and economy of design. Since its establishment in 2003, DPAW has received 14 design awards from the Kentucky AIA chapter, including 6 Honor Awards. The Workshop was chosen for the 2010 Design Vanguard by Architectural Record, the 2011 Emerging Voices by the Architectural League of New York, and the 2012 American Architecture Award by the Chicago Athenaeum and the European Centre For Architecture Art & Urban Studies. Most recently, DPAW received the 2013 American Institute of Architects Honor Award for the Mason Lane Farm Operations Facility, a project which has garnered attention for its innovative use of passive sustainable strategies. DPAW has been published in numerous design magazines including Architectural Record, Architect, Dwell, Wallpaper, Ecologik, Construire, Arquitectura Viva, C3, Deco, Eco-Structure, and others. Their work has also been featured in books by the Princeton Architectural Press, Rizzoli, Verlaghous-Braun and Monsa. DPAW’s work has been exhibited at the 2012 Istanbul Biennial, the 2011 Beijing International Design Triennial, and WOOD 2010 in Smaland, Sweden. Current key projects include: Wild Turkey Bourbon Visitor Center, The Summit Bechtel Family Boy Scouts Reserve, the Knoxville Botanical Garden & Arboretum Master Plan and Phase I Expansion, The Living Arts & Science Center Expansion & Renovation, and The Filson Historical Society Campus Expansion & Renovation.