ENR Southwest is pleased to announce the winners of its 2022 Best Projects competition!

The regional contest also features two special awards, Excellence in Safety and Excellence in Sustainability.

The Excellence in Safety Award is now in its tenth year. An independent panel of safety judges considered many factors in their decisions, including a project’s overall safety program, OSHA recordable incident rate, lost time accident rate and total work hours on the job. This year's safety experts included Pat Salandi, safety director, Niels Fugal Sons Co. LLC; and Rodd Weber, executive director of safety & quality, The PENTA Building Group

This year’s winners are:

Best Project, Excellence in Safety
CommonSpirit Chandler Regional Medical Center - Tower D Addition
 Chandler, Ariz.
Submitted by McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. 

Award of Merit, Excellence in Safety
Valley Metro Operations and Maintenance Center Expansion
 Phoenix
Submitted by Hensel Phelps 

Excellence in Sustainability is in its second year now, with projects judged by a separate jury from the main contest. Special thanks to Alicia Duffy, project manager, Mortenson; and Sandra M. Bernal, College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture CAPLA, University of Arizona; for comprising our panel of sustainability judges. This year, the panel selected two winning projects.

Some factors that judges considered were how well project teams went above and beyond baseline industry requirements, a project's overall sustainability strategy, choice of materials, energy savings and environmental impacts— not only within its own footprint but also on the community served.

This year’s winners are:

Best Project, Excellence in Sustainability
Bernalillo County Government Center at Alvarado Square
 Albuquerque
Submitted by HB Construction Inc. 

Award of Merit, Excellence in Sustainability
U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs Phoenix Outpatient Clinic
 Phoenix
Submitted by Jacobsen Construction Co. 

Now on to the winners of ENR Southwest’s 2022 Best Projects competition. After a month of hard work, an independent panel of AEC experts reviewed a total of 48 projects and selected 12 for Best Projects recognition and 9 Awards of Merit across 13 categories. As always, to avoid conflicts of interest, judges did not score any categories in which their firms had entries and abstained from scoring if they had any involvement with a project submittted.

A big thanks go to this year's panel of expert judges: 

  • Jessica Colón, estimator, DPR Construction
  • Alandren Etlantus, senior vice president, Bohannan Huston Inc.
  • Boe Evanson, senior project manager, The Weitz Co.
  • Chris Fletcher, project director, McCarthy Building Cos.
  • Phil Glenn, project director, Kitchell Contractors
  • Kai Kaoni, assistant professor of practice, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Construction Management and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Informatics and Applied Sciences, Northern Arizona University
  • Claire Karsten, project coordinator, Karsten Interior
  • Timothy Rock, owner/CEO, All Things Metal

In addition to selecting category winners, our judges have also chosen two finalists for ENR Southwest 2022 Project of the Year, with the winner to be announced at the regional Best Projects event in November. We will preview the finalists in another blog leading up to the event.

All winning project teams — as well as the selected Owner of the Year, Design Firm of the Year, Contractor of the Year, Specialty Contractor of the Year and Legacy Award winner — will be recognized in Phoenix on Nov. 3 at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel. 

Click here for more information and to register for the event.

Congratulations to this year's winners, listed below by category: 

Best Project, Airport/Transit
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Terminal 4 Eighth Concourse
 Phoenix
 Submitted by McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. 

Award of Merit, Airport/Transit
 Tempe Streetcar
 Tempe, Ariz.
 Submitted by Stacy and Witbeck Inc. 

Best Project, Energy/Industrial
 Sun Streams 2
 Arlington, Ariz.
 Submitted by McCarthy Building Cos. Inc.

Best Project, Government/Public Building
 Avondale Visitor & Conference Center
 Avondale, Ariz.
 Submitted by Haydon Building Corp. 

Best Project, Health Care
 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Phoenix Outpatient Clinic
 Phoenix
 Submitted by Jacobsen Construction Co. 

Award of Merit, Health Care
 CommonSpirit Chandler Regional Medical Center - Tower D Addition
 Chandler, Ariz.
 Submitted by McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. 

Award of Merit, Health Care
 Neuroplex at Barrow Neurological Institute
 Phoenix
 Submitted by Kitchell Contractors Inc. 

Best Project, Higher Education/Research
 Arizona State University’s Rob & Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health (ISTB7)
 Tempe, Ariz.
 Submitted by McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. 

Award of Merit, Higher Education/Research
 Arizona State University @ Mesa City Center
 Mesa, Ariz.
 Submitted by DPR Construction 

Best Project, Highway/Bridge
 I-10 Houghton Road Diverging Diamond Interchange
 Tucson
 Submitted by Stanley Consultants 

Award of Merit, Highway/Bridge
 US 60 Pinto Creek Bridge
 Globe, Ariz.
 Submitted by Ames Construction Inc. 

Award of Merit, K-12 Education
 John S. McCain III Elementary School
 Buckeye, Ariz.
 Submitted by Orcutt | Winslow 

Best Project, Manufacturing
 Project Lagerhaus - New Distribution and Office Facility for Leading CPG Company
 Glendale, Ariz.
 Submitted by Layton Construction 

Best Project, Renovation/Restoration
 Bernalillo County Government Center at Alvarado Square
 Albuquerque
 Submitted by HB Construction Inc. 

Award of Merit, Renovation/Restoration
 Desert Aviation Center Remodel
 Las Vegas
 Submitted by Carpenter Sellers Del Gatto Architects 

Best Project, Residential/Hospitality
 Hyatt Place Phoenix Downtown
 Phoenix
 Submitted by Mortenson 

Award of Merit, Residential/Hospitality
 Westin Tempe
 Tempe, Ariz.
 Submitted by RSP Architects 

Best Project, Small Project
 Hope Village
 Albuquerque
 Submitted by Mullen Heller Architecture PC 

Best Project, Sports/Entertainment
 Phoenix Suns Footprint Center Renovations
 Phoenix
 Submitted by Okland Construction 

Award of Merit, Sports/Entertainment
 U-HAUL Conference and Fitness Center
 Phoenix
 Submitted by CHASSE Building Team 

Best Project, Water/Environment
 Cutter Lateral Reach 21 Water Treatment Plant and Associated Items
 Bloomfield, New Mexico
 Submitted by Jacobs (previously CH2M)