After much 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 2020 and May 2021.

The competition began last March with a call for entries to the construction industry, which resulted in more than 800 project teams submitting their best 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 15 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.

Another pair of green building experts selected the Excellence in Sustainability award winner, based on how innovative and intensive the sustainability strategy was on the project, and how successful its outcome.  

The judges and winning projects will be featured in more depth in the March 21 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 21 issue.

Come celebrate the winners in New York City on March 31 and April 1. The project teams will first be honored as a group during ENR's Annual Award of Excellence Black-Tie Gala on March 31 at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City, which also honors ENR’s Top 25 Newsmakers and the Award of Excellence winner. Then, each winning team will receive their award and have an opportunity to speak at the Best of the Best Projects breakfast ceremony on April 1. For more information, visit enr.com/aoe 

The 2022 Regional U.S. Best Projects competition will commence this spring. For more information, visit last year's entry page at enr.com/bestprojects   (Entry dates and eligibility will be updated once the call for entries goes live this spring.)

Airport/Transit

Norwegian Cruise Line – Cruise Terminal B, located in Miami, Florida. Originally submitted by Preston H Haskell Co. to ENR Southeast

Cultural/Worship

Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, located in Houston. Originally submitted by McCarthy Building Cos. to ENR Texas & Louisiana

Energy/Industrial

Sweeny Hub Phase 2 Expansion (SHP-2), located in Sweeny, Texas. Originally submitted by S&B Engineers and Constructors to ENR Texas & Louisiana

Excellence in Safety

Cañada College Kinesiology and Wellness Building, located in Redwood City, Calif. Originally submitted by Blach Construction to ENR California

Excellence in Sustainability

Watershed, located in Seattle. Originally submitted by DCI Engineers to ENR Northwest

Government/Public Building

First Americans Museum, located in Oklahoma City, Okla. Originally submitted by Centennial Builders (joint venture of Manhattan Construction Co. and Flintco) to ENR Texas & Louisiana

Health Care

Omaha VA Ambulatory Care Center, located in Omaha, Neb. Originally submitted by McCarthy Building Cos. to ENR Midwest

Higher Education/Research

University of Texas at Dallas Sciences Building, located in Richardson, Texas. Originally submitted by Linbeck Group LLC to ENR Texas & Louisiana

Highway/Bridge

Brent Spence Bridge Fire & Rehabilitation, located in Covington, Ky. Originally submitted by Michael Baker International to ENR Midwest

Interior/Tenant Improvement

GoodRx, located in Los Angeles. Originally submitted by Clune Construction to ENR California

K-12 Education

Tampa Heights Elementary Magnet School, located in Tampa, Florida. Originally submitted by JE Dunn Construction to ENR Southeast

Landscape/Urban Development

Little Island, located in New York City. Originally submitted by Arup to ENR New York

Manufacturing

National Institutes of Health NCI Building T30 Cell Processing Modular Facility, located in Bethesda, Md. Originally submitted by DPR Construction to ENR Mid-Atlantic

Office/Retail/Mixed-Use

110 North Wacker, located in Chicago. Originally submitted by Clark Construction Group LLC to ENR Midwest

Renovation/Restoration

Old Cook County Hospital Renovation, located in Chicago. Originally submitted by The Walsh Group to ENR Midwest

Residential/Hospitality

Clippership Wharf, located in East Boston, Mass. Originally submitted by Lendlease (US) Construction LMB Inc. to ENR New England

Small Project (under $10 million)

SOS Children’s Villages Illinois’s Roosevelt Square Community Center, located in Chicago. Originally submitted by Lendlease to ENR Midwest

Specialty Construction

City of Troy Seawall Stabilization, located in Troy, New York. Originally submitted by CHA Consulting, Inc. to ENR New York

Sports/Entertainment

Allegiant Stadium, located in Las Vegas. Originally submitted by Mortenson | McCarthy Joint Venture to ENR Southwest

Water/Environment

Atlanta Water Supply Program, located in Atlanta. Originally submitted by PC Construction to ENR Southeast