The six expert judges and five editors evaluating this year's Building Team Project of the Year Awards poured over dozens of submittals to identify the projects that best exemplify the collaborative effort necessary between owner, architect, and contractor to produce buildings that exhibit architectural and construction excellence.
Though the judges and editors engaged in lively debate over the entries, they were unanimous in their selection of the eight projects singled out for recognition as Grand or Merit award winners.
Diverse in their building type and geographic locations across the U.S., the projects are:
The Ohio corporate headquarters and distribution center of clothier Abercrombie & Fitch (p 22), lauded for its environmental stewardship and owner/team collaboration;
Seattle Seahawks Stadium and Exhibition Center (p 32), for its diversity, mentoring, and training programs as well as its design and construction;
Texas Heart Institute in Houston (p 42), which survived a steam gasket failure and flood in the course of completion;
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles (p 50), earthquake-proofed and built to last 500 years;
Capitol Area East End, Block 225, government office building in Sacramento, Calif. (p 58), a LEED Gold-certified building renowned for its art program;
Chesapeake Biological Laboratories Smallpox Vaccine Facility in Baltimore (65), built in the aftermath of 9/11 in only 72 days;
Shafran Planetarium in Cleveland (p 72), a gleaming beacon of science education; and
Erie on the Park in Chicago (p 79), a structural steel high-rise condominium that's breaking the mold in multifamily residential construction.
"It's interesting to note that the family of award winners is representative of the broad spectrum of the building industry, from stadia to corporate office to lab to healthcare to government," says juror Philip Tobey, a senior vice president with Detroit-based SmithGroup.
The projects also were diverse in their size and cost, ranging from $6 million to $700 million. "It just demonstrates to me that this is an open awards process," says Tobey. "Any project with merit can win."
