After intense review, deliberation and discussion, industry judges have arrived at the 20 winners of ENR’s Best of the Best Projects competition.

This announcement comes as the culmination of a nearly year-long effort put forth by nearly 100 members of the construction industry selected by ENR editors to judge the various stages of the contest.

The projects listed below represent the pinnacle of design and construction achievement in their respective categories from across the U.S. among projects completed between May 2019 and May 2020.

The contest began last March with a call for entries to the construction industry. Despite logistical and staffing challenges posed by the pandemic, the industry responded loud and clear with nearly 900 project teams submitting their work to the regional Best Projects competitions. In each of the 10 regions, the editors assembled a panel of judges to select the winners in 20 categories—from airport/transit to sports/entertainment—in that region.

Once the regional winners were chosen, the top winners in each category from each region moved up to the national competition – around 200 projects in total. A new group of 14 judges from across the country and from all walks of the industry examined each project in an effort to distinguish the best from the best in terms of teamwork, safety, overcoming challenges, innovation and quality.

For the Excellence in Safety award, a panel of two industry safety experts reviewed the incident rates, worker hours and safety programs to determine the winner.

The judges and winning projects will be featured in more depth in the March 15 issue of ENR. Also in that issue, the editors of ENR, in collaboration with the judges, will select three Project of the Year Finalists, which will be revealed in the coming weeks. One of those honorees will be deemed the Project of the Year, which will be revealed in the March 15 issue.

Come celebrate the winners on April 9, part of the ENR Award of Excellence virtual awards celebration held April 8 and 9. For more information, visit https://www.enr.com/enr-award-of-excellence

The 2021 Regional U.S. Best Projects competition will commence this spring. For more information, visit last year's entry page at www.enr.com/bestprojects/  (Entry dates and eligibility will be updated once the call for entries goes live this spring.)

Also, if you have an outstanding project located anywhere in the world, be sure to submit it to ENR’s next competition – Global Best Projects, which will also begin accepting entries in March. At least one project team member firm must be based outside of the country where the project site is located. Check http://www.enr.com/bestprojects/global for general information about the contest.

Airport/Transit

Sacramento International Airport Runway 16R-34L Pavement Rehabilitation, located in Sacramento, Calif. Originally submitted by Granite Construction Co. to ENR California

Cultural/Worship

United States Olympic and Paralympic Museum, located in Colorado Springs, Colo. Originally submitted by GE Johnson to ENR Mountain States

Energy/Industrial

MEGlobal BOOKRAMEG Project, located in Freeport, Texas. Originally submitted by MEGlobal, Worley and Fluor to ENR Texas & Louisiana

Excellence in Safety

CAESARS FORUM, located in Las Vegas. Originally submitted by The PENTA Building Group to ENR Southwest

Government/Public Building

Long Beach Civic Center, located in Long Beach, Calif. Originally submitted by Clark Construction Group LLC to ENR California

Green Project

Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design, located in Atlanta. Originally submitted by Skanska USA Building Inc. to ENR Southeast

Health Care

Mission North Tower, located in Asheville, N.C. Originally submitted by Brasfield & Gorrie to ENR Southeast

Higher Education/Research

University of Arizona Health Sciences Innovation Building (HSIB), located in Tucson. Originally submitted by Kitchell Contractors to ENR Southwest

Highway/Bridge

Crosstown Parkway Extension Design-Build Project, located in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Originally submitted by RS&H, Inc. to ENR Southeast

Interior/Tenant Improvement

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago, located in Chicago. Originally submitted by Pepper Construction to ENR Midwest

K-12 Education

Historic Alameda High School, located in Alameda, Calif. Originally submitted by Quattrocchi Kwok Architects to ENR California

Landscape/Urban Development

Spokane Riverfront Park U.S. Pavilion, located in Spokane, Wash. Originally submitted by Hill International, Inc. to ENR Northwest

Manufacturing

Blue Origin Engine Facility, located in Huntsville, Ala. Originally submitted by Clayco to ENR Southeast

Office/Retail/Mixed-Use

111 East Grand, located in Des Moines, Iowa. Originally submitted by StructureCraft to ENR Midwest

Renovation/Restoration

The Century Project for the Space Needle, located in Seattle. Originally submitted by Hoffman Construction Company to ENR Northwest

Residential/Hospitality

53 West 53, located in New York, NY. Originally submitted by Lendlease (US) Construction LMB Inc. to ENR New York

Small Project (under $10 million)

Coast Boulevard Sea Cave Emergency Stabilization, located in San Diego, CA. Originally submitted by Flatiron West Inc. to ENR California

Specialty Construction

Nordstrom Facade Restoration, located in New York, NY. Originally submitted by J.T. Magen & Company Inc. to ENR New York

Sports/Entertainment

Chase Center Development, located in San Francisco. Originally submitted by Mortenson | Clark, a Joint Venture to ENR California

Water/Environment

City Park Golf Course Redesign, located in Denver, Colo. Originally submitted by Saunders Construction, Inc. to ENR Mountain States