Built as a public-private partnership—a first for the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs—this three-level, 157,000-sq-ft outpatient care facility maximized the benefits of construction manager at-risk project delivery and concurrent designer-contractor collaboration.

Designed to replicate the warmth and flow of a private health care experience within a public health department, the new Will County Dept. of Public Health aims to meet the needs of a population that is expected to nearly double in the next 30 years.

The new Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe, Kan., consolidates the 10th Judicial District Court, the district attorney’s office and supporting spaces into a seven-story cast-in-place concrete structure.

Red Rock Dam, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facility on the Des Moines River near Pella, Iowa, got a new powerhouse courtesy of Stantec’s design and a new generation license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The $670-million West Riverside Energy Center (WREC) in Beloit, Wis., provides 730 MW of reliable power. This combined-cycle facility can ramp its output up and down quickly to deal with shortages or surpluses.

The 35,000-sq-ft, 850-seat church utilizes insulated concrete forms (ICF) for the basement and first-level exterior walls, giving the structure increased energy efficiency and added resilience against extreme temperatures and weather events.

The St. Louis Zoo  Primate Canopy Trails are home to 40 primates representing 14 different species. When lead design firm PGAV Destinations and general contractor Tarlton Corp. began work on the 35,000-sq-ft expansion to the existing primate house in late 2019, one of their biggest challenges was planning work around chimpanzees, lemurs and colobus monkeys. 

With the goal of balancing environmental protection and aviation safety, Short Elliott Hendrickson designed an alternative alignment for the main runway at Duluth Sky Harbor.

Design-build team of Walsh, SOM and Murphy Group persevered through curveballs to recreate Chicago's Ellis Island as two hotels.

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.