Newsroom

News Releases

May 9, 2018

LAS Recognized for its Excellence in Rehabilitation by The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation

LAS Receives Three Awards Including the Prestigious Marguerite Williams Award

ATLANTA — May 9, 2018 – Lord Aeck Sargent, Atlanta-based leading architecture, design and planning firm, recently received three awards from The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.

The organization recognizes projects in Georgia that have made significant contributions to the field of historic preservation. Lord Aeck Sargent received two Excellence in Rehabilitation awards for its work on The Miller Theater in Augusta and Covenant College’s Carter Hall located in Lookout Mountain. The Miller Theater also received the Marguerite Williams Award, which recognizes the project that has the greatest impact in Georgia. Funded by a $23 million capital campaign, the rehabilitation project has already spurred intense redevelopment in downtown Augusta.

The Miller Theater was recognized for its innovative use of virtually every preservation technique and program to achieve this rehabilitation. The Miller Theater is one of the few remaining Art Moderne movie theaters in the country. This 1940 building had been abandoned since 1984 and has been rehabilitated for the Symphony Orchestra of Augusta (SOA). After decades of grassroots efforts to preserve the historic icon, the building was sensitively rehabilitated to bring it back to prominence.

Lord Aeck Sargent and 2KM Architects preserved the historic character of the theater to ensure it continues as a renowned cultural site in the city. The team refined the natural acoustics of the space to make it a premiere host for the SOA and a broad array of performers and acts. The theater reopened to the public on Jan. 6, 2018, and is set to host more than 125 shows during its debut season.

Carter Hall was built in 1928 as the Lookout Mountain Hotel, but closed its doors in 1960 after decades of failed attempts to succeed in business. In 1964, Covenant College purchased the building and, in 1979, an EIFS system was installed and covered the original façade.

In 2007, Lord Aeck Sargent was tasked with creating a preservation plan, including proving that the original façade could withstand the elements. Ten years of planning, budgeting, testing and validating, historical research, design and construction has led to the complete rehabilitation of the building’s entire original Tudor-style detailing. Original terrazzo was discovered in the corridors and porches on either end of the building and were once again opened up.

“Both the Miller Theater and Carter Hall demonstrate complex technical, design and relational aspects that our teams navigated while achieving beautiful final products,” said Joe Greco, President of Lord Aeck Sargent. “We are honored to give new life to these buildings so they can continue their narratives and play vital roles in their Georgia communities.”

# # #

About Lord Aeck Sargent

Lord Aeck Sargent is an award-winning architectural and urban planning firm serving clients in academic, historic preservation, science and technology, interiors, arts and cultural, multi-family housing and mixed-use, and urban design and planning markets. The firm’s experts in these practice areas, who have deep regional and national experience and relationships, collaborate across six offices in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Lexington, Kentucky; and Washington, D.C. It has been named one of Atlanta Business Chronicle's Top 25 Architectural Firms 15 times, received American Institute of Architects’ National Honor Award and has been in Engineering News-Record Magazine’s Top 500 Design Firms list 11 times. Lord Aeck Sargent is No. 88 on ENR’s Top 100 Green Design Firms list, and has been named a Top Green Design firm by multiple publications 16 times. For more information, visit the firm at www.lordaecksargent.com.