Al Hansen, AIA, and the entire Loudon County Design Cabinet were honored with the 2010 PlanVirginia Citizen’s Award. This award is given to a group or individual who has made a notable and constructive contribution to the harmonious and orderly development of the community, region, state or nation. PlanVirginia, who sponsors this award, is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering, throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, public understanding and awareness of the need for excellent community planning as a means of making our localities better places in which to live, work, and do business.
Since 2003, Hansen, who is Director of Architecture for DBI Architects, has served as cabinet chair of Loudoun County’s Design Cabinet. The Design Cabinet promotes high quality ecological, urban, architectural, and landscape design in Loudoun County. Design Cabinet members include engineers, architects, planners, and designers who have come together in a fusion of creative community problem solving. Collectively, Hansen and the Design Cabinet members have been actively involved by volunteering in the community, conducting design charettes and problem solving sessions, focusing on improving plans, and stimulating new ways to think about projects in Loudoun County.