OFFICIAL, the design practice founded by Assistant Professor of Architecture Amy Leveno and her partner Mark Leveno, has been recognized with an AIA Oklahoma Design Award for their Riverhills Residence project.
Situated on a one-acre site with a natural westward slope toward downtown Fort Worth, Riverhills Residence is thoughtfully designed to engage both the panoramic views and the site’s unique topography. The land’s uniform drop at its center creates a natural internal courtyard, allowing the architecture to embed itself seamlessly into the hillside.
Riverhills residence. Photo courtesy of OFFICIAL.
From the street, the home presents a low-slung façade that aligns in scale with neighboring residences, establishing a subtle and contextual street presence. To the west, the design opens outward to the expansive vista and inward to the intimate lower-level courtyard and pool. A continuous balcony wraps the second floor, connecting interior spaces with the landscape and offering ever-changing perspectives of the courtyard and the sweeping view beyond.
The landscape design transitions from formal plantings around the residence to existing and native vegetation as it descends the slope, reinforcing the site’s natural character. Deep overhangs and sliding solar screens provide passive solar control, filtering sunlight while preserving openness and visual connections to the outdoors. Tiered levels throughout the house further enhance the relationship between interior and exterior spaces, creating a dynamic interplay between built form and landscape.
The Gibbs College community congratulates Professor Leveno and her firm, OFFICIAL, on this well-deserved honor.
Gibbs College is pleased to present the exhibition Vollendorf in Oklahoma: The Architecture of Dean Bryant Vollendorf during the Spring 2025 semester. It will be on display in Gould Hall, on the OU-Norman Campus, from February 16, 2026 - March 13, 2026.
On November 21, 2025, the Mainsite Contemporary Art gallery was transformed into a showcase of innovation and craftsmanship for the University of Oklahoma’s furniture design build studio exhibition, “Purpose in Form.”
Associate Professors Lee Fithian, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Pober have published a chapter in the recently released New Perspectives in Indoor Air Quality, published by Elsevier. Their contribution, titled “Chapter 16 – Architecture and the Challenges of Indoor Air Quality,” examines the relationship between architecture and indoor air quality.
