Projects recognized as the best in the sector

ENR’s Best Projects competition brings together engineering and construction teams from across the industry to celebrate innovative techniques, teamwork, design, quality craftsmanship, safety efforts and the ability to overcome challenges.

This is the program’s 27th year, and about 800 projects were submitted from across the country, with 100 of those submissions coming from the Mountain States.

ENR Mountain States divides its Best Projects competition into two regions, those built in Colorado, Wyoming and the Dakotas and those in the Intermountain area (Utah, Idaho and Montana).

Judges could select a Best Project and an award of merit if warranted, and did not vote in categories that included projects in which they or their companies participated. Projects had to be completed between May 2023 and May 2024 to be eligible for this year’s program.

The heat recovery cooler at UCHealth’s Aurora hospital in Colo. is expected to offset 2,500 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Photo by Caleb Tkach

When the final votes were tallied, 58 projects were selected in 20 categories, including safety and sustainability.

Our judges met again to choose the Project of the Year, with decisions being made based on their individual scores, category rankings and overall appeal. The choice was not easy, but several projects rose to the top.

The Colorado Springs Air Force Academy Visitor Center will take home the top honor from Colorado, Wyoming and the Dakotas. The finalists are the Chamonix Casino Hotel, Cripple Creek, Colo., and the Colorado School of Mines Labriola Innovation Hub, Golden, Colo. Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi, Utah, is the 2024 Project of the Year for the Intermountain area. The Intermountain finalists are the Post District in Salt Lake City and Dumke Arts Plaza and The Corner Plaza in Ogden, Utah.

With the nearest concrete plant hours away, crews building the Chamonix Casino Hotel mobilized two ready-mix concrete batch plants two miles from the semi-remote project site in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
Photo by Moss Photography

Meet the judges

We couldn’t hold this annual competition without the help of our expert and dedicated judges, who spend countless hours researching the submissions and discussing the features of each project.

This year’s judges for the top 18 ENR Mountain States categories were: Tara Bettale, HDR; Matt Betts, JE Dunn Construction; Jeremy Bringard, CRSA; Dennis Cigana, Jacobsen Construction; DJ Gratzer, 4240 Architecture; Becky Hawkins, Method Studio; Powell Hinson, Carollo Engineers; Kris Kreymborg, JHL Constructors; and Courtney Tucker, GH Phipps.

In addition, a team of three judges reviewed the safety awards, paying particular attention to a project’s safety programs, cultures and outcomes. We extend our thanks to Mountain States safety experts Dan Milinazzo, Hensel Phelps Construction; Matt Ogle, JE Dunn Construction; and Rick Zellen, Holder Construction.

The Colorado Convention Center Expansion, located in Denver, takes the Safety Excellence Award, and an Award of Merit goes to the Maybell Diversion Restoration Project in Maybell, Colorado. The Lone Peak Tramway Dock in Big Sky, Mont., won the award. Award for Excellence in Security of the Intermontanya area.

An existing 3,000-square-foot CMU structure from the 1950s was reclaimed and reimagined as a net-zero energy building for the Utah Clean Energy Climate Innovation Center.
Photo courtesy of Oakland Construction

Each of ENR’s regions also assembled a separate set of judges to determine the most sustainable projects of 2024. Our Mountain States sustainability assessment experts are Tim Springer, PCL Construction, and Matt Schlageter, Martin/Martin Consulting Engineers.

University of Colorado UCHealth Hospital in Aurora, Colo., will take home the Excellence in Sustainability Award, and an Award of Merit will go to the Denver North Water Treatment Plant, located in Arvada, Colorado.

Along with Intermountain, the top honor goes to the Utah Clean Energy Climate Innovation Center, located in Salt Lake City. An Award of Merit in Sustainability goes to the Waterford School Science Building in Sandy, Utah.

All winning project teams, as well as Mountain States Companies of the Year and Legacy Award winners, will be celebrated at breakfast programs held during the second week of December.

The Intermountain Awards will be presented in Salt Lake City on December 10 at the Marriott Downtown City Creek. The awards for Colorado, Wyoming and Dakota will be presented in Denver on December 13 at the Embassy Suites Downtown Convention Center hotel.

The best project in each category will automatically advance to the national ENR competition, and those winners will be announced at the Best of the Best Awards Brunch in New York City on March 27, 2025.

Read on to see which projects won the distinction as the best in the Mountain States. Congratulations to all the winning project teams!