The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the winners of its 2008 Honor Awards for architecture, interior architecture, and urban design. Of the 13 projects selectedfor the 2008 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture, four are residential projects.

Delta Shelter, Mazama, Wash., by Seattle-based Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects—The 1,000-square-foot weekend cabin on stilts is located in a riparian floodplain. Its elevated design allows it to take in surrounding views and minimizes the potential of flood damage. The steel-clad exterior can be completely shuttered when vacant.

26th Street Low-Income Housing, Santa Monica, Calif., by Kanner Architects of Santa Monica—The design of the low-income family housing project invites daylight and the climate's mild breezes, while also remaining sensitive to human scale and local modernist architectural precedents.

Loblolly House, Taylors Island, Md., by Philadelphia's KieranTimberlake Associates—The 1,800-square-foot modularly constructed house takes inspiration for its elevated form and materials from its coastal site and plant species, such as loblolly pines and salt-meadow cordgrass.

Residence Halls Units 1 & 2 Infill Student Housing, Berkeley, Calif., by EHDD Architecture of San Francisco—This urban infill student housing project acknowledges the scale of neighborhood single-family houses and low-density apartment buildings, while encouraging community with more usable open space.

Meanwhile, four out of 10 recipients of the 2008 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture are residential projects.

Central Park South Apartment, New York City, by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects of New York City—Asymmetry and sculpted forms combine to seamlessly integrate this apartment's structural columns and plumbing lines into the design, while showcasing the owner's art, furniture, and a northern view to Central Park.

Laboratory, Omaha, Neb., by Omaha-based Randy Brown Architects—This experimental house, designed and built by the architect and hired architecture students, explores the many ways of weaving manmade elements together with natural elements, creating a vernacular structure that, in the judges' estimation, is "simultaneously natural and manmade."

Private Residence, Northfield, Ill., by Roszak/ADC of Evanston, Ill.—The architect's own house, an 8,200-square-foot project, fosters interaction among family members and supports their individual pursuits in different rooms. Its glass-paneled walls blur and remove borders, encouraging visual connection.

Tehama Grasshopper, San Francisco, by San Francisco's Fougeron Architecture—A three-story warehouse is transformed into an office, residence, and rooftop penthouse blending indoor and outdoor spaces. Although each space has a distinct personality and function, they cleave to the overall aesthetic through the use of industrial materials and color palette.

One residential project was selected for the 2008 Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design.

Habitat Trails: A Low-Impact Development, Rogers, Arkansas by the University of Arkansas Community Design Center—This 17-dwelling, eco-friendly, low-impact development for Habitat for Humanity sits lightly on five acres, incorporating low-impact technologies. Units are clustered to preserve a third of the site as commonly held open space.

To view each winning project's design board with full descriptions, photos, and judges' comments in PDF format, visit www.aia.org/release_010408_honoraward.