Judges from all corners of the AEC community spent weeks reviewing entries for achievement in five areas: project challenges and solutions; safety programs; innovative design and construction solutions; contribution to the construction industry and the community; as well as design quality and craftsmanship. Projects were ineligible for an award if they had a construction-related death.

Entries from each subregion (Northern and Southern California) were evaluated by separate panels of judges. Over a course of a month, entries were independently reviewed, scored on specific criteria and then discussed in a virtual gathering with fellow judges to finalize choices for Best Projects, awards of merit and Projects of the Year. Judges were asked to recuse themselves in cases of conflict of interest.

Caltech Resnick Sustainability Center earned a Best Project for higher education/research and the Excellence in Sustainability award.
Photo by Michael Moran

Judging Panels

Special thanks go out to this year’s team of Northern and Southern California judges:

• Amer Bata, deputy department manager, AECOM
• Priscilla Chavez, manager - business development, PCL
• Doug Conrath, retired, CRB Group
• Larisa Escalle, rail and transit lead, Northern California, GHD
• Rick Fochtman, senior vice president, Bernards
• Chris Forster, vice president operations, Largo Concrete
• Matthew Grubb, vice president of engineering, R.D. Olson Construction
• Donald Kahn, principal consultant, TMS Project Consulting
• Glen Kaneshige, president, NordicPCL
• Beatriz Kim, engineering team lead, Rosendin
• Phil LeCocq, project management, division of engineering, California Dept. of Water Resources
• Kabri Lehrman-Schmid, project superintendent, Hensel Phelps
• Vince Mammano, director of strategic solutions, Mark Thomas
• Danica Mason, principal, Red Team Go!
• Thomas J. McNulty, office lead, Rider Levett Bucknall
• David Mori, engineering manager, Anaheim Public Works
• Suzanne Napier, vice president, studio leader, Smith Group
• Caleigh Raymer, construction manager, PCL
• Kim Scott, vice president business development and marketing, Blach Construction
• Brian Staton, president/CEO, HMC Architects
• Pamela Touschner, managing principal, DLR
• Tim Wilson senior vice president, Pacific Ames Construction

Best Project-level winners for each California region will now advance to the national contest, where they will compete with the winners from nine other regions for ENR’s Best of the Best awards. Judging for the national contest will begin later this year, and the results will be announced in early 2026.

Limelight Mammoth Hotel and Residences won the award of merit for residential/hospitality.
Photo by Dan Patton

Excellence in Safety and Sustainability

The contest also features two special awards for each subregion: Excellence in Safety, which has been a part of the competition for over a decade, and Excellence in Sustainability, which is in its fourth year. The judges recognized five safety winners and six sustainability winners between the two regions.

The two special awards for sustainability and safety for both of the California regions were judged by separate independent panels.

Safety judges for this year’s contest included:

• Ted Boyce, director of safety, quality and organizational development, Hathaway Dinwiddie
• Craig DeCesare, manager, health, safety and environment, WSP
• Matt Jones, vice president, environmental health and safety, Tutor Perini
• Brian Sorensen, director of safety, Exxel Pacific

Sustainability judges were Raven Adams, sustainability manager, Granite Construction, and Richard McDonald, corporate director of sustainability, Sundt.

 

Projects of the Year

In addition to selecting category winners, judges for the main competition also chose three projects from each California region for consideration as Project of the Year, the regional contest’s highest honor.

For Northern California, the finalists were 301 Mission Perimeter Pile Upgrade (Best in specialty construction) and UCSF Health Peninsula Outpatient Center (Best in health care, Excellence in Sustainability). The Northern California Project went to the Klamath River Renewal Project (Best in water/environment).

For Southern California, the Project of the Year finalists were the Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla Tower II (Best in health care) and Pepper Canyon West Living and Learning Neighborhood at UCSD (Best in residential/hospitality). The Southern California Project of the Year honors went to the Intuit Dome (Best in sports/entertainment, Excellence in Safety and award of merit in sustainability).

The winning project teams for Southern California and Nevada will be honored on Nov. 5 in Los Angeles at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza. The winning project teams for Northern California will be celebrated in San Francisco on Nov. 7 at the Parc 55 Hilton.

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