On October 28, over 800 architects, designers, contractors, and their clients gathered together at Navy Pier in Chicago to celebrate the architecture firms recognized with 2011 Design Excellence Awards. Firms were honored for achievements in the following four categories: Distinguished Building, Interior Architecture, Regional & Urban Design, and Unbuilt Design. Out of 357 entries, there were 42 awards total– 10 Honor Awards (the highest distinction), 24 Citation of Merits, and 8 Special Recognitions. Half of these awards were for designs in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, while the remaining awards were for designs in other cities, states, and countries.
Some noteworthy projects among the 39 winning projects included the world’s tallest building in Dubai, “blending a hotel, luxury residences and office space,” an international design center in Chicago for a Benton Harbor based corporation, the creation of a native wildlife refuge, boardwalk and education pavilion at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo in “a space that was once a polluted urban waterhole,” a LEED Gold certified civil engineering building in Duluth, Minnesota, and a visionary master plan for the city of Gary, Indiana that connects the city to the surrounding area.
Here are the firms that took home multiple awards:
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP with 10 awards
Perkins+Will with 6 awards
DeStefano Partners/Lothan Studio with 3 awards
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture with 2 awards
Goettsch Partners with 2 awards
Murphy/Jahn with 2 awards
Ross Barney Architects with 2 awards
UrbanWorks Ltd. with 2 awards
And here is the list of winners by category:
DISTINGUISHED BUILDING
HONOR AWARD:
James / Swenson Civil Engineering Building, Duluth, MN –BY: Ross Barney Architects
Nature Boardwalk, Education Pavilion and South Pond Transformation at Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago –BY: Studio Gang Architects with Shaw Sustainable Solutions of Illinois, LLC
One Haworth Center, Holland, MI –BY: Perkins+Will
CITATION OF MERIT:
Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE –BY: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
College of DuPage Technology Education Center, Glenn Ellyn, IL –BY: DeStefano Partners/Lothan Studio
Fullerton and Belmont Stations Reconstruction, Chicago –BY: Ross Barney Architects
Gary Comer College Prep, Chicago –BY: John Ronan Architects
Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, Chicago –BY: Murphy/Jahn
Shanghai Huawei Technologies Corporate Campus, Shanghai, China –BY: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
UNO Veterans Memorial School Complex, Chicago –BY: UrbanWorks Ltd.
West Combined Utility Plant, University of Chicago, Chicago –BY: Murphy/Jahn
SPECIAL RECOGNITION:
300 East Randolph Vertical Completion, Chicago –BY: Goettsch Partners
Peace Corner Youth Center, Chicago –BY: DeStefano Partners/Lothan Studio
Rosa Parks Apartments, Chicago –BY: Landon Bone Baker Architects
INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE
HONOR AWARD:
Confidential Law Firm Headquarters, Chicago –BY: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Jenner & Block, Chicago –BY: Goettsch Partners
World of Whirlpool, Chicago –BY: Valerio Dewalt Train Associates
CITATION OF MERIT:
CompTIA The Computing Technology Industry Association Inc., Downers Grove, IL –BY: Perkins+Will
Confidential Banking Firm Headquarters, Charlotte, NC –BY: Perkins+Will
Mumford Hall Conversion, Chicago –BY: Harding Partners
New Trading Firm, Chicago –BY: Cannon Design
One Haworth Center, Holland, MI –BY: Perkins+Will
Public Areas at the Residences of Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE –BY: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Serta International, Hoffman Estates, IL –BY: Epstein / Metter Studio
Sprinkles Cupcakes, Chicago –BY: Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
University of Illinois, Pennsylvania Avenue Residence Halls Dining Remodel, Urbana-Champaign –BY: DeStefano Partners/Lothan Studio
SPECIAL RECOGNITION:
Burj Khalifa Level 153, Dubai, UAE –BY: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
REGIONAL & URBAN DESIGN
HONOR AWARD:
Farming the Chicago Stock Yards, Chicago –BY: UrbanLab
Guangzhou University Town– 4 Villages, Guangzhou, China –BY: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Panama Government City Master Plan, Panama, Republic of Panama –BY: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
CITATION OF MERIT:
American College of Greece, Athens, Greece –BY: VOA Associates Incorporated
Groundplanes for Gary, Gart, IN –By: UrbanWorks Ltd.
Moraine Valley Community College Entrance Gateway + Quadrangle, Palos Hills, IL –BY: Teng + Associates
SPECIAL RECOGNITION:
A Vision for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Region Recognizing a Global Resource, Chicago –BY: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
UNBUILT DESIGN
HONOR AWARD:
King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia –BY: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
CITATION OF MERIT:
Dubai Bridge, Dubai, UAE –BY: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Shanghai Eastern Hepatobiliary Hospital, Shanghai, China –BY: Perkins+Will
Shenzhen Archive Towers, Shenzhen, China –BY: Jaeger and Partner Architects, Ltd. with Saltans Architects_Intl.,Ltd
Tianjin Museum, Tianjin, China –BY: Perkins+Will
SPECIAL RECOGNITION:
Prairie House: House for a Fashion Pattern Maker and Fiber Artist, Northfield, IL –BY: The Office for Robotic Architectural Media & Bureau for Responsive Architecture
Takshing House Redevelopment, Hong Kong, China –BY: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
The S-Tower, Seoul, Korea –BY: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP