From educational facilities to courthouses to central utility buildings and art museums, the winning submissions in the 2024 ENR MidAtlantic Best Projects competition represent what a panel of judges said were “outstanding” projects across the region.

Located in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, projects were evaluated on a team’s ability to overcome challenges, contribution to the construction industry, innovation and best practices, community impact, safety and construction and design quality. Projects also had to have been completed between May 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024. Judges could not vote in categories that included projects for which they or their firms were involved.

After reviewing nearly 80 entries, the judges selected 31 projects for either a Best Project award or an award of merit. The entries for the main categories were reviewed by two panels of industry judges; separate safety and sustainability judges reviewed entries in those categories.

This year’s judges for the main categories were: Philip Brault, regional director, MidAtlantic for Consigli Construction Co.; Andrew J. Graham, senior associate, technical director at Leo A. Daly; Brian Neckermann, senior project manager at The Walsh Group - Walsh Construction & Archer Western; Ben Nichols, president and CEO of Harkins Builders; Rod Jones, project manager for operations at Holder Construction; and Sara A. Sadek, director of corporate quality assurance and quality control at PJ Dick.

The sustainability judges were Josh Rollins, marketing director for pursuit marketing at Suffolk, and Nate Russo, civil engineer with AECOM. Rollins and Russo scored projects based on overall sustainability strategy, choice of materials and energy savings. While major green designations such as LEED and WELL were taken into account, they were not essential to win in the sustainability category. Ryan Resilience Lab in Norfolk, Va., was named this year’s Excellence in Sustainability winner.

This year’s safety judge—Bob McCall, director of safety, Master Builders’ Association of Western Pennsylvania—selected the General Assembly Building of Virginia in Richmond as the Excellence in Safety winner. ENR MidAtlantic’s overall Project of the Year was Bard High School Early College in Washington, D.C.