Meeting the challenge of transforming a striking design by a high-profile architect into a workable, sustainable reality—and completing the job on budget—is what separates ENR California's 2011 Region's Best Project, the Kravis Center at Claremont McKenna College, from other contenders this year.

Award of Merit Civil Works/Infrastructure Photo courtesy of Brown + Caldwell Brown + Caldwell was the engineer on the project. Build a sewer in a lake? Make it buoyant? Will it work? Officials of the City of Lake Oswego, Ore., and their consultant asked and answered these and many other questions while designing and constructing what project officials say is the world's first-known buoyant gravity sewer. The $95-million project was completed ahead of schedule after a 10-year planning, design and construction process. Its centerpiece is a buoyant gravity high-density polyethylene sewer, held to proper grade beneath the lake surface by

Award of Merit Transportation Photo courtesy of MIG The project featured a streetscape renovation. Long Beach Transit initiated a Transit Mall Streetscape Renovation project that included redesigning and reconstructing its three-block downtown transit mall. The design reflects a shoreline theme with eight wave-inspired, suspended tensile fabric canopies sheltering contemporary seating on a sand-textured concrete sidewalk. Illuminated canopies also offer shelter for real-time digital information screens. New pedestrian lighting between the shelters provides a pleasing nighttime experience for transit patrons, says landscape architect MIG.Key PlayersOwner: Long Beach Public Transportation Co.General Contractor: Fast Track Construction, Culver CityConstruction Management: Psomas, Culver CityLandscape Architect:

Best Multi-Family Residential/Hospitality Project Photo courtesy of KTGY Group The community consists of 52 luxury condominiums. Photo courtesy of KTGY Group The homes are LEED-platinum certified. Primera Terra is a LEED-Platinum certified residential community located at the easternmost portion of Playa Vista in West Los Angeles. The 52 luxury condominiums are built atop an existing subterranean garage.Because of the challenging economic environment, the project was redesigned down to three stories from four and five stories without losing units or the number of bedrooms and minimizing new slab penetrations.The neighborhood design organizes homes around a central courtyard that features a linear

Best K-12 Education Project Photo courtesy of Hensel Phelps Hensel Phelps was the general contractor. Photo courtesy of Hensel Phelps Gonzalez Goodale was the architect. The Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, constructed at the site of the historic Ambassador Hotel and Cocoanut Grove Night Club in Los Angeles, includes a K-5 grade school for 800 students, a grades 6-8 middle school for 1,000 students, a grades 9-12 high school for 2,440 students with five separate small learning communities, a new parking structure and the new RFK Inspiration Park.Designed to reflect the latest green building methods and materials, the project utilized

ENR California wants to thank this year's judges, who, once again, faced the formidable task of reviewing a large amount of information on the 116 submitted projects before selecting the winners.

Award of Merit Green Building Photo courtesy of Swinerton Builders Swinerton Builders was the general contractor on the project. Located at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, the $21-million Sustainability Base consists of two, two-story steel-frame office and research buildings totaling 50,000 sq ft.In addition to the structures, the project included site prep, utilities, installation of 96 geothermal wells, parking, California-native landscaping, hardscaping and development of a stormwater management system. Functional spaces include open and enclosed office space with data and voice lines, conference rooms and common areas.Key PlayersOwner: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett

Best Landscape/Hardscape/Urban Development Project Photo courtesy of Sasaki Associates The park lies adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of Sasaki Associates The park lies adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles. The Wilmington Waterfront Development Program adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles attempts to transform the landscape. The project seeks to meet the challenge of helping a vibrant residential community coexist with a vital, active industrial neighbor.According to architect Sasaki Associates, following a collaborative planning and design process and public outreach, the first in a series of three public parks has transformed a brownfield site into

Best Cultural Project Photo courtesy of Watts Constructors Watts Constructors was the general contractor on the project. Photo courtesy of Watts Constructors The project met high expectations. The new $33.6-million visitor center for the USS Arizona Pearl Harbor Memorial expands the original center, built in 1980, to accommodate 1.6 million visitors annually, up from the original facility's capacity of 750,000.The campus-style complex has eight buildings and 55,000 sq ft of shaded or enclosed space. It covers more than 17 acres and has a shoreline walk, the USS Arizona anchor, Remembrance and Overlook Circles and walkways. The design and construction team

Award of Merit Multi-Family Residential/Hospitality Photo courtesy of Nibbi Brothers Nibbi Brothers served as general contractor on the project. Located on the Third Street light-rail line in San Francisco's Bayview district, the $31.6-million Armstrong Place is a new multi-generational affordable housing community for seniors and first-time homebuyers.The five-story, 116-unit project has a one-level concrete podium with four levels of wood-frame housing above. The podium contains parking and 9,000 sq ft of commercial space.Some sustainable building elements include flow restrictions on all faucets; a solar heating system; 50% FSC-certified wood for all cabinets, doors and formwork; and use of low-VOC materials.