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.

During the course of a month, the projects 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 Project of the Year. Judges were asked to recuse themselves in cases of conflict of interest.

The new TikTok USDS office in Bellevue, Wash., was named a Best Project in the office/retail/mixed-use category.
Photo by Benny Chan

Judging Panels

Special thanks go out to this year’s team of judges:

• Sam Holden, project executive, Skanska USA Building
• Danica Mason, principal, Red Team Go!
• Victor Nuñez, business development manager, Turner Construction
• Anne Timmermans, senior consultant, Parametrix
• Aaron Yohnke, vice president corporate services, PCL Construction

Best Project-level winners 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.

Judges selected Seattle’s First Light as the Best Project in the residential/hospitality category.
Photo by Moris Moreno

Excellence in Safety and Sustainability

This year’s 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 three safety winners and two sustainability winners.

The judge of the sustainability contest was Pooja Sannamani, senior associate, sustainable buildings and infrastructure lead at AECOM, and the safety contest was judged by Susan Delaney, CEO, Delaney Safety.

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

The Northwest Project of the Year Finalists were the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, St. Francis Family Birth Center (Best Project in the health care category) and MAX Red Line Extension and Reliability Improvements Project (Best Project for renovation/restoration and Excellence in Safety). The Northwest Project of the Year is La Plaza Esperanza (Best Project in the cultural/worship category).

The winning project teams will be recognized Dec. 16 in Seattle at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel.