Arizona Watcher
ENR announced the Southwest Best Projects winners on July 28, recognizing design and construction excellence across Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico in the competition’s 30th year. Nearly 100 entries were reviewed by an independent panel.
An independent panel of industry judges — including architects, contractors and academics — evaluated submissions. Judges with firms entered in the competition were assigned to other categories to avoid conflicts of interest.
Winning teams will be featured in the Oct. 26 print edition and honored at an awards luncheon on Nov. 6 at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel, where the Project of the Year and annual honors will be announced.
Category winners span airports, civic, education, health care and community projects. Notable winners include Phoenix Sky Harbor Terminal 3 North Concourse 2, Mesa Gateway Library and the ISTB12 higher-education building in Mesa.
Other recognized projects cover infrastructure, K–12, landscape and specialty construction, including the I-15/Tropicana interchange, Desert Horizon Elementary phased rebuild and Hualapai Moving Forward Veteran’s Memorial and Recreational Park.
Excellence in Safety went to the Las Vegas Convention District Phase Three Renovation, with Project Bighorn Data Center earning a safety Award of Merit.
Excellence in Sustainability was awarded to the UNM Hospital Critical Care Tower in Albuquerque, which earned LEED v4 Gold, cut interior and exterior water use substantially, achieved major energy savings and recycled over 81% of construction waste.
The winners of the Southwest region's annual Best Projects competition have been announced, recognizing design and construction excellence across Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. Nearly 100 entries were reviewed by an independent panel of judges, with winners to be featured in…