Photo courtesy of Clark Construction

The $465-million CityCenterDC features two high-end office buildings, two luxury apartment buildings and two custom condominium buildings.

From an innovative energy center to a state-of-the-art ice arena, ENR MidAtlantic's Best Projects of 2014 represent excellence across a wide spectrum of project types. With the recession in the rear view mirror, this year's notable projects represent a wave of work borne out of the recovery.

Notably, the group of cited projects this year includes numerous private developments such as the CityCenterDC residential complex in Washington, D.C. With two office buildings, two apartment structures and two condominiums in a 10-acre downtown site, it represents one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the city's history.

The numerous entries in the higher education-research category created our most competitive field in this year's competition. As a result, our jury chose to cite four projects in that group, with one also selected as ENR MidAtlantic's overall Project of the Year across all categories.

The winner was the University of Pennsylvania Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology. The 78,000-sq-ft research center in Philadelphia illustrates excellence and innovation in architectural design, engineering and construction. Its concept rethinks laboratory and research spaces—taking clean rooms and nanotechnology labs that would typically be hidden from view and opening them to the public. Labs outfitted with microscopes were built on bedrock to minimize vibrations that would interfere with research. The team selected the ideal site location for these labs early, then, essentially, designed the building around those requirements. The project was built next to an existing nanotechnology center, prompting construction crews to be extremely sensitive in minimizing vibrations that could compromise ongoing research.

This year, our independent jury of industry experts recognized a total of 29 projects in 17 construction categories to represent the region's best. The judges also honored four projects for attention to safety practices. Read on to learn more about these award-winning projects.