This year’s Best Projects contest covered work completed between May 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021. In other words, the period of time that saw the COVID-19 pandemic at its most virulent and impactful to broad sections of the U.S. economy, including the construction industry.

The use of CM at-risk enabled contractors and engineers to quickly deliver a complex project key to solving Atlanta’s drinking-water supply problem.

The project team for the St. Croix National Guard base facility went to great lengths to deliver the hospital in just 22 days.

Part of Allen Morris Co.’s live-work-play Star Metals development in Atlanta’s West Midtown district, this nine-story, 675,000-sq-ft mixed-use development was “filled with obstacles,” according to the project team. The hurdles included zero laydown area and the need to remove roughly 15,000 cu yd of rock. 

Part of Allen Morris Co.’s live-work-play Star Metals development in Atlanta’s West Midtown district, this nine-story, 675,000-sq-ft mixed-use development was “filled with obstacles,” according to the project team. The hurdles included zero laydown area and the need to remove roughly 15,000 cu yd of rock. 

After the closure of the city’s largest employer, the city of Kannapolis launched the Kannapolis Downtown Revitalization Plan—an ambitious initiative to purchase the entire downtown through private and public partnerships.

The four-story, 104,149-sq-ft expansion and renovation of the Georgia Aquarium houses a 1-million-gallon shark exhibit—one of the largest in North America. With its floor-to-ceiling acrylic viewing windows, the gallery, which was completed in November 2020, brings visitors face-to-face with these predators and aims to provide a fresh perspective on the role sharks play in the health of the ocean.

Duke University’s 150,000-sq-ft engineering building is designed to promote active student learning and collaboration among the next generation of engineers.

Designed by Gensler, this three-floor upfit was created with agility and adaptability in mind. Straying from the traditional office hierarchy model, the design adopts a uniform office structure where all offices occupy identical dimensions.

BE&K Building Group led an interior upfit that transformed a 30-year-old, one-story shell space into a cutting-edge BSL-2 laboratory and biomanufacturing suite.