A number of sustainable features drove the design of the Fields Automotive Group's $4.4-million Volvo Dealership, including wind turbines, a rainwater harvesting system featuring a pair of 2,500-gallon above-grade silos and an additional 10,000-gallon tank located below grade, and solar panels both at grade level and atop the roof.

The $300-million, 41-story Great American Tower in Cincinnati, Ohio, is capped with a 300-ton, 130-ft-high elliptical "tiara," recalling the one worn by England's Princess Diana.

The project team implemented integrated project delivery for Bright Lights, a sprawling multi-phased headquarters in Chicago that includes both offices and a full-service, 500-seat trading floor.

A performing-arts center that takes its cues from the forms of a 16th-century villa. An auto dealership driven by environmental concerns.

All eyes are on the skies, where one Chicago apartment tower after another takes shape as the region's high foreclosure rate and the inability of homebuyers to secure financing have boosted the appeal of renting. Image Courtesy of Lend Lease No fewer than 20 major apartment projects , including 1225 Old Town, are under development, design or construction in Chicago. Net rents for Class A apartment units in downtown Chicago spiked 10% this past year, sufficient to spark development activity downtown and in neighborhoods due north, according to Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago-based consulting firm.Strong market fundamentals prompted Chicago-based Magellan

The $17.4-million, interdenominational Horizon Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, showcases the interplay of structural steel for its frame, wood timber for its ceilings, stone for its walls and light-gauge metal for non-wooden trusses and interior walls.

As the only stand-alone hospital in West Michigan devoted exclusively to pediatric care, the $286-million, 11-story Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids deftly weaves a child-friendly environment with environmentally friendly systems.

An 850,000-sq-ft LEED-Platinum corporate headquarters, a center for homeless youth and a cable-stayed bridge spanning the Missouri River are among the projects a panel of industry professionals have awarded top honors in ENRMidwest's Best Projects 2011 competition, an annual program recognizing outstanding design and construction in a variety of categories.

Upstaging Adler & Sullivan's rock-solid Auditorium Building in downtown Chicago is a glassy new landmark for Roosevelt University. The school's “vertical campus,” set to open next March, has faced difficult obstacles—tight laydown and delivery zones, delicate underground work, tough hoisting logistics, to name a few—but the building team is handily making the grade on the $118-million project. The first challenge to overcome had to do with fire safety. In 2004 the city adopted a new code requiring pre-1975 high-rises to be equipped with automatic sprinklers. That meant Roosevelt University would have to retrofit its 19-story Herman Crown Center, a residence

Robert Mortimer and Michael Gould have been named senior vice presidents with Chicago-based contractor James McHugh Construction Company. Randy Bullard, Peter Campagnolo, Brian Fish and John Kelly were named vice presidents with the firm. John Tuisl has been named vice president of safety and risk management with Northbrook, Ill.-based contractor Kenny Construction Co., while Tom Lubas Jr. has been named assistant risk manager for the firm. Kenny recently combined its safety and risk management departments. Kenny is the only construction company to have been awarded the National Safety Council's Green Cross for Safety. Kurt Jaeger has been appointed vice president