Award of Merit Transportation Photo courtesy of Robert A. Bothman The bridge is the centerpiece of a transit village. The Robert I. Schroder Overcrossing provides transit commuters and the users of the 33-mile-long, multi-use Iron Horse Trail safe passage across one of the busiest thoroughfares in the San Francisco Bay Area's Contra Costa County. The bridge is the centerpiece of a transit village consisting of a commuter railway station and a high-density residential and commercial development. The final steel-arch bridge design comes to life at night with a lighting design using sustainable LED fixtures, says the general contractor, Robert A.

Award of Merit Government/Public Building Photo courtesy of Lydig Construction The project was built near SeaTac Airport. The $49-million SCORE Jail project is the first multi-jurisdictional jail completed in the state of Washington. This 813-bed facility houses inmates for the cities of Auburn, Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, SeaTac, Renton and Tukwila.With jail costs rising nearly 70% over the past seven years, the design of the facility was specifically intended to provide spaces that allow for lower operational costs. Constructed on a 14-acre site south of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the 164,000-sq-ft jail is a plant-cast precast concrete and steel

Award of Merit K-12 Education Photo courtesy of DLR Group WWCOT The new school is a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization. South Region Elementary School No. 2 is not only a notable piece of civic architecture in the community of South Los Angeles, but also a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization, according to the project team. The project, with its brightly painted blue, red, green and orange exterior, is an 82,000-sq-ft facility on a 4.2-acre site, housing 42 classrooms and capacity for 1,050 students. The school contains a library, multi-purpose rooms, food service area, lunch shelter, administration offices, playfields and underground parking.The

Best Sports/Entertainment Project Photo courtesy of Turner Construction The project consisted of a renovation and expansion of PGE Park. Photo courtesy of Turner Construction The new stadium is home to MLS' Portland Timbers. This $30-million project consisted of the phased renovation and expansion of PGE Park to accommodate Major League Soccer's Portland Timbers. Two separate phases of work at the stadium, now called Jeld-Wen Field, were completed over successive baseball and soccer off-seasons.The project included the addition of a new low-impact synthetic playing field, a cantilevered roof covering most of the new seating bowl, club seating with a full-service restaurant,

The Dept. of General Services Central Plant in Sacramento provides chilled water for cooling, steam for heating and control air to 23 state-owned buildings in the Capitol area.

Award of Merit Green Building Photo courtesy of Flad Architects The project completes the Robert Mondavi Institute. The $17-million Teaching and Research Winery and the August A. Busch III Brewing and Food Science Laboratory complete the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science campus at the University of California, Davis. The building is also an extended learning environment, educating students in sustainable production processes. Key sustainability objectives include reduction of water and energy use and reclaimed waste output. It is the first research building in California to achieve net-zero water use and the first process science building to achieve

Award of Merit Higher Education/Research Photo courtesy of DPR Construction The building features a serpentine-like design. Nestled in the hillside of UCSF's Parnassus Campus, the $123-million, 660-ft-long Regeneration Medicine Building features a serpentine-like design with four split-level floors and terraced living roofs, sitting on a structural framework 40 to 70 ft off the ground.One of the main challenges was inserting a high-profile medical science and stem cell research building into a densely packed urban university campus in a seismic Zone 4, which significantly increased the complexity for the team. Furthermore, the project is situated at the base of Mount Sutro,

Award of Merit Higher Education/Research Photo courtesy of C.W. Driver C.W. Driver served as general contractor on the project. CSU Northridge's new $125-million Valley Performing Arts Center is a five-story, U-shaped building wrapping around a central courtyard. The center, recently certified LEED Gold, features a 1,700-seat, technically and acoustically superior performance hall; a 180-seat experimental theater; dressing rooms and green room; costume, scene, props and paint shops; lighting, scenery, acting, sound and multimedia labs; radio station; and a 230-seat recital/lecture room. A dramatic glass lobby wall opens the building's interior to the campus and Nordhoff Avenue. This orientation creates courtyard

Award of Merit Cultural Photo courtesy of Fort Vancouver Regional Library District Howard S. Wright served as general contractor on the project. The new $38-million Vancouver Community Library is an 83,000-sq-ft concrete structure with a multistory glass atrium, roof gardens, back-up diesel generator and uninterruptible power supply system, a rooftop mechanical room and extensive under-floor plenums. According to the general contractor, Howard S. Wright, Portland, Ore., the construction team faced challenges within the design at every turn for this technologically advanced and sustainable structure with specialty finishes and raised flooring. Structural concrete is revealed throughout the building in walls and

Award of Merit Government/Public Building Photo courtesy of Barnhart Balfour Beatty The project is located in China Lake. General contractor Barnhart Balfour Beatty provided design-build services for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest to construct the $63.8-million William B. McLean Laboratory, located at Naval Air Weapons Station in China Lake. The 178,000-sq-ft, two-story weapons and armament technology center provides technical and management support for 650 personnel engaged in engineering, logistics and armament modeling/simulations work.Building features include engineering labs, management offices and conference facilities.Key PlayersOwner: Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San DiegoGeneral Contractor: Barnhart Balfour Beatty, San DiegoConstruction Management: Naval Air Weapons