The ENR Northwest Best Projects 2024 competition featured a wealth of innovative projects spanning the spectrum of construction and design.
Projects included an emergency seismic rehabilitation of a naval dry dock, the extension of a regional light rail line, and the innovative reuse of a historic building into a creative arts space. Many projects managed to meet important sustainability standards while striving to meet their schedule deadlines and cost targets.
From 48 submissions to ENR Northwest’s annual Best Projects competition from Washington, Oregon and Alaska, an independent jury selected 13 Best Projects and 15 awards of merit, including Excellence in Safety and Excellence degree in Sustainability.
A team of judges, drawn from all corners of the AEC community, spent a month reviewing entries to achieve five areas: project challenges and solutions, safety programs, innovative design and construction solutions, contribution to the construction industry and community, as well as quality design and craftsmanship. Projects were not eligible for an award if they had a construction-related death.
The extensive modernization of the Washington Village campus won Best Project in the Tenant/Interior Improvement category.
Photo by Garrett Rowland
The judges independently reviewed the entries, scored each project against specific criteria, and then met virtually with other judges to finalize their choices for Best Projects, Awards of Merit and Project of the Year. Judges were asked to recuse themselves in cases of conflict of interest.
This year’s judges were:
- Matt Clafton, Senior Vice President/Regional Manager, Alston Construction
- Rick Fochtman, Executive Vice President, Business Development and Marketing, Bernards
- Sam Holden, Project Executive, Skanska USA Building
- Kabri Lehrman-Schmid, Project Superintendent, Hensel Phelps
- Víctor Nuñez, head of business development, Turner Construction
- Anne Timmermans, Senior Consultant, Parametrix
Best Project winners will now move on to the national level, where they will compete with winners from nine other ENR regions for the magazine’s Best of the Best awards. The winners of the national competition will be officially announced this month.
The Safety Excellence Award has been part of the competition for more than a decade, and the Sustainability Excellence Award is in its fourth edition. The judges recognized two safety winners and two sustainability winners.
The safety competition was judged by Craig Decesare, HSE Federal Program Manager – Emergency Management, at WSP, and Brian Sorensen, Exxel Pacific Inc. Safety Director.
Sound Transit’s 3.7-mile Lynnwood Link light rail extension project was recognized for an excellent safety record.
Photo courtesy of Skanska USA Civil
Sustainability entries were judged by Don Davies, Co-Founder/Principal, Davies-Crooks Associates, and Richard McDonald, Director of Corporate Sustainability at Sundt.
The judges also chose three nominees for Project of the Year, the highest honor in the regional competition. The two finalists were Seattle Multimodal Terminal at Colman Dock (Best Project in the Airport/Transit Category) and Field Arts & Events Hall (Best Project in the Specialized Construction Category). The Project of the Year awards went to the Native Salmonid Conservation Facility (Best Water/Environmental Project).
The winning project teams will be celebrated in Seattle on December 17 at the Grand Hyatt Seattle.
