ENR Mountain States, working in concert with other regional ENR publications and editors across the U.S., has selected its Design Firms of the Year for 2016.

This year, they are OZ Architecture, Denver, for the Colorado/Wyoming area; and CTA Architects Engineers, Billings, Mont.,  for the Intermountain area. Both firms were chosen by a vote of the regional ENR editors from a solid group of finalists.

OZ Architecture

OZ is a multi-faced design and master-planning firm with deep roots in Colorado and the Mountain West. The firm’s design services encompass a broad spectrum of markets, from higher education and K-12 projects, health care facilities, retail and hospitality, government buildings, energy and technology centers and global work to interior design projects.

Here is a small sample of the firm's notable regional projects:

• The Confluence Building for Community College of Denver
• The LEED-Gold Visual Arts Complex at the University of Colorado
• Many well-known Colorado restaurants and hotels, including Elway’s at The Lodge in Vail, multiple locations for Punch Bowl Social, The Nickel at the Hotel Teatro, the Westin Snowmass and Westin Riverfront.
• Institutional work includes Fire Station No. 18 in Lowry, the Glenwood Springs City Hall, the Pearl Street Mall and Boulder Community Foothills Hospital.

OZ also has designed dozens of global projects, from Africa to the Middle East. The firm celebrated its 50-year anniversary in 2014.
 

CTA Architects Engineers

CTA is headquartered in Billings, Mont. The multidisciplinary design firm has 17 offices throughout the West, with 400-plus employees working in six vertical markets: commercial, education, government, health care, living and retail.

Some of the firm’s recent projects in the region:

• Scentsy Campus - Boise. The 70-acre corporate campus includes the remodel and expansion of three buildings, the addition of four new facilities, one of them a 170,500-sq-ft, six-story office tower; and design of two yet-to-be-built structures.
• Whitney Center for the Arts, Sheridan College - Sheridan, Wyo. The $20-million, 48,000-sq-ft building provides cutting-edge space for several fine arts disciplines.
• Stockman Bank - Missoula, Mont. Designed to be the first LEED v4 Platinum project in Montana and one of a few in the country, with the lowest energy use per square foot of any building CTA has designed. $24 million. December 2017 occupancy.

A profile story on each of the firms will appear in the June issue of ENR Mountain States. Congratulations to this year’s winners.