LEO A DALY’s DC studio reinvents gingerbread architecture for a good cause

LEO A DALY announced today the donation of $5000 to My Sister’s Place, a Washington, D.C. charity focused on ending domestic violence and empowering survivors. My Sister’s Place was chosen by our Washington, D.C., studio to receive the donation after winning our internal company gingerbread design competition.

The North Pole Workplace Headquarters design competition solicited edible architectural models from our design studios across the nation on behalf of a K. Kringle & Assoc. The goal: “reinvent the gingerbread typology” as a modern live/work/play campus on the North Pole.

GingerHAUS, the DC studio’s winning design, is a modernist twist on the classic gingerbread house, “consisting of three interlocking dwellings; merging the live-work-play needs of today’s creative workforce,” according to designer Lauren Funk, IIDA, who led the GingerHAUS design team.

The competition was judged by a panel of renowned pastry chefs and company leaders, including Erin Schwartz of Stacked Cakes; Van French of Van Earl’s Cakes; Shantel Der Boghosian of Shakar Bakery; LEO A DALY president Steven Lichtenberger and chairman Leo A. Daly III.

The contest is documented in our annual video holiday card. For more detail on the competition, including all of the entries, visit our blog.

The DC studio chose My Sister’s Place to receive the $5000 prize money because of the unique and important role the charity plays in helping women and children.

“My Sister’s Place is the oldest domestic violence shelter in Washington, D.C., and unique in that they provide a full continuum of care from emergency shelter through transitional-to-permanent housing. It’s a wonderful organization, and they mean a lot to us,” said director of interior design Ruth Jansson, CID, IIDA, LEED AP.

“This time of the year it’s important for us to think about those who are less fortunate than ourselves. We are very happy to be able to make this contribution to My Sister’s Place. This holiday season, please join us in supporting this important cause, or your favorite charity,” said managing principal Bill Kline, AIA.

LEO A DALY has been involved in a number of architectural projects aimed at ending homelessness, including several in the District. In 2015, the firm received a national Residential Architect Design Award for La Casa Permanent Supportive Housing in Columbia Heights. The project was a joint-venture with Studio Twenty-Seven Architecture. The studio recently completed design work on a new permanent supportive housing development in Ward 8, and is now at work on a short-term family housing development in Ward 6.