Judges could select a Best Project and an award of merit if warranted in each category, and they did not vote in categories that included projects in which they or their firms were involved. The projects had to be completed between May 2024 and May 2025 to be eligible for this year’s program.

Project of the Year Finalist Populus Hotel, located in Denver, also was named the Best Project in the specialty construction category.
Photo courtesy of The Beck Group

Meet the Judges

We wouldn’t be able to hold this annual competition without the help of our knowledgeable and dedicated judges, who spend countless hours digging into the submissions and discussing the characteristics of each project. This year’s main category judges were: Tara Bettale, HDR; Matt Betts, JE Dunn; Dennis Cigana, Jacobsen; DJ Gratzer, 4240 Architecture; Becky Hawkins, Method Studio; Powell Hinson, Carollo Engineers; Kris Kreymborg, JHL Constructors; Matt Schlageter, Martin/Martin Consulting Engineers; Tim Springer, PCL Construction; and Courtney Tucker, GH Phipps.

Judging the safety projects, with a special emphasis on safety programs, cultures and results, were Dan Milinazzo, Hensel Phelps; Matt Ogle, JE Dunn; and Rick Zellen, Holder Construction. Mountain States sustainability judges were Jillian Cornelius of Method Studio and Kris Kreymborg with JHL Constructors.

The Grand Hyatt Deer Valley in Park City, Utah, was named the Intermountain winner of the Excellence in Safety award and also won an award of merit in the office/retail/mixed-use category.
Photo courtesy of Jacobsen Construction

When the final votes were counted, 51 projects were selected across 20 categories, which include safety and sustainability. Then our judges reconvened to choose the Project of the Year, with decision-making based on their individual scores, category rankings and overall appeal.

Several projects rose to the top, but two clear winners emerged: Whiting-Turner’s T3 RiNo, the first large-scale mass timber office building constructed in Denver, will take home the top honor for the Colorado/Wyoming region. Deseret Peak High School, located in Tooele, Utah, and submitted by Hughes General Contractors, has been named Project of the Year for the Intermountain area.

You can read more about these projects and all the winners in the pages that follow.

All winning teams, as well as the Mountain States firms of the year and Legacy Award winners, will be celebrated at breakfast programs held during the first week of December. Intermountain awards will be presented in Salt Lake City on Dec. 2 at the Marriott Downtown City Creek. The Colorado/Wyoming Best Projects awards will be presented in Denver on Dec. 4 at the Embassy Suites Downtown Convention Center Hotel.

Westminster University’s L.S. Skaggs Integrated Wellness Center won the Intermountain Excellence in Sustainability award and was named a Best Project in the higher education/research category.
Photo courtesy of Jacobsen Construction & Cody Brown

The top project in each category will automatically move on to the ENR national competition, and those winners will be announced at the Best of the Best awards brunch in New York City on March 26. Read on to see which projects were recognized as the best in the Mountain States.

Congratulations to all the project teams for their noteworthy achievements.