 
 Ave Maria Town Center in Ave Maria, Fla.
Looney Ricks Kiss Architects won four Aurora Awards for its architectural designs during the recent Southeast Building Conference in Orlando, including a Grand Aurora Award for a Mixed Use Multi Family community located in the West Village area of Dallas.
“Our firm believes in creating places that enhance a community by achieving a sense of place and personality,” said Mike Sullivan, principle of Looney Ricks Kiss Architects in Jacksonville. “The thrill of these awards is to celebrate the collaboration between our design teams, our clients and our builders.”
The winning designs by Looney Ricks Kiss include:
• Gables Villa Rosa, Phase II, in Dallas. This design won an Aurora Award in the Rental Apartment Community category and was a Grand Aurora Award winner in the same category.
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• Ave Maria Town Center in Ave Maria, Fla. The town center design received an Aurora Award in the Residential Mixed-Use Land Development category.
• A private residence in Eads, Tenn. This home was an Aurora Award winner in a Custom Home One-of-a-Kind category.
Gables Villa Rosa, Phase II is a mixed-use property designed after many of the great resorts of the early 20th century. Consisting of 245 luxury apartments and 56,000 square feet of office and retail space in an eight-story tower, the property was designed with pedestrian traffic in mind and within walking distance of area restaurants, shops, a park and public transportation. Located in an area of Dallas that attracts renters who prefer an uptown lifestyle, Gables Villa Rosa’s residences are designed with single-family home luxuries, such as hardwood floors, gourmet kitchens and expansive baths with garden tubs. The property has many upscale amenities, including a modern fitness center, two landscaped pools, outdoor fireplaces, and a two-story, 10,000-square-foot clubhouse.
The Town of Ave Maria is the first New Urbanist Town developed as a “College Town” in connection with a new university. Located east of Naples, Ave Maria is a walkable, self-sustaining town designed with distinctive character reflecting the regional Mediterranean architectural styles and offering town center commercial services such as a colligate bookstore, coffee shops and residential housing types for a diversity of residents such as students, young families and retirees. Retail and commercial spaces have arcades, awnings and ample sidewalks to create a layered streetscape and comfortable pedestrian experience. The Town Center offers more than150 residential dwellings with six diverse floor plans ranging in size from 1,200 square feet to 1,700 square feet that offer balconies or terraces with dramatic views, covered parking and secured entrances.
Looney Ricks Kiss also received industry commendation for its design of an extraordinary private home located in Tennessee. The architects’ vision was to site the home with minimal street impact, capture views to and from the home, design a timeless image and character, and create an easy-living plan to support the owner’s active lifestyle. In contrast to the typical home situated parallel to the street, this home is designed along a perpendicular axis, allowing for multiple indoor/outdoor connections and abundant natural light to interior spaces. Boundaries between formal and informal areas are blurred by the owner’s desire to live in 100 percent of the house. The interior finishes provide a neutral backdrop with authentic materials that will age well over time.
“All of our projects were designed specifically for their locations and our client’s needs, making each one unique,” Sullivan said. “Each design enhances and contributes to support and enrich the lives of those that use our spaces both now and hopefully into the future.”
The Aurora Awards is the premier building and design competition for builders, developers, architects, interior designers, and other industry professionals involved in projects in a 12-state region in the southern United States and the Caribbean
Founded in 1983, Looney Ricks Kiss is an architecture, planning and interiors firm with offices in Memphis, Orlando, Rosemary Beach, Jacksonville, Nashville, Dallas, Houston, Baton Rouge, La., Boulder, CO and Princeton, N.J. The firm has been commended by developers across the nation for its success in the planning and implementation of mixed-use developments, urban infill projects, downtown revitalization and traditional neighborhood developments. To date, the firm has received more than 450 awards of recognition for design at local, state, regional and national levels.
