The judges independently reviewed the entries, scored each project on specific criteria and then convened virtually with fellow judges to finalize their choices for Best Projects, awards of merit and Project of the Year. Judges were asked to recuse themselves in cases of conflict of interest.

The North Satellite Modernization Project at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport won a Best Project in the airport/transit category.
Photo courtesy Sozinho Imagery

This year’s judges were:

Brandon Maurisak, senior transit engineer, AECOM;

Cy Reichart, senior environmental project engineer, VRX, and;

John Schaufelberger, professor (retired), department of construction management, University of Washington.

Two more independent panels selected the winners of the two special awards for sustainability and safety.

The judges for the Excellence in Safety award were Ted Boyce, director of safety, quality and organizational development at Hathaway Dinwiddie, and Alan Hayes, safety director, California, at JTM Construction Group. Angie Kung, associate, environmental, at HDR and Eric Huff, vice president/environmental manager, at VRX judged the Excellence in Sustainability award.

The Best Project winners will now advance to the national level where they will compete with the winners from nine other ENR regions for the magazine’s Best of the Best awards. Judging for the national contest will begin later this year, and the results will be announced in early 2023.

The Excellence in Safety Award has been a part of the competition for a decade, and the Excellence in Sustainability award is in its second year. The judges recognized two safety winners and a sustainability winner.

In addition to selecting category winners, judges also chose three contenders for Project of the Year, the regional contest’s highest honor. The two finalists were Kake Access Road (Best Project in the highway/bridge category) and Steeplejack Brewing Co.(Best Project in the renovation/restoration category). The Project of the Year honors went to Climate Pledge Arena (Best Project for sports/entertainment). It also won the Excellence in Sustainability award.

The winning project teams will be celebrated in Seattle on Dec. 16 at the Grand Hyatt Seattle.

The Projects

• Northwest Project of the Year: Climate Pledge Arena
• Best Airport/ Transit: North Satellite Modernization Project
• Best Energy/Industrial Project: The Juno Project
• Best Health Care: Legacy Emanuel West Expansion
• Best Higher Education/Research: Bates Technical College Center for Allied Health Education
• Award of Merit – Higher Education/Research: Oregon State University-Cascades Edward J Ray Hall
• Project of the Year Finalist, Best Highway/Bridge: Kake Access Road
• Best Interior/Tenant Improvement: 710 Holladay Renovation
• Award of Merit – Interior/Tenant Improvement: Volkswagen Cloud Tenant Improvement
• Best K-12 Education, Award of Merit – Excellence in Safety: Bush School - New Upper School Building
• Best Office/Retail/Mixed-Use: PAE Living Building
• Award of Merit – Office/Retail/Mixed-Use: Harder Mechanical Headquarters
• Project of the Year Finalist, Best Renovation/Restoration: Steeplejack Brewing Company
• Best Residential/Hospitality: Trailside Student Housing
• Award of Merit – Residential/Hospitality: Spire Condominiums
• Best Small Project (under $10 million): Boundary Dam Spillway No. 1 TDG Modifications Removal
• Award of Merit – Small Project (under $10 million): North Mason Regional Fire Authority’s Headquarters Fire Station 21
• Best Water/Environment, Best Excellence in Safety: Skagit River Raw Water Pipeline and Clearwell
• Award of Merit - Best Water/Environment: Spokane Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility, NLT Phase 1 and 2