ENR Southwest is pleased to announce the winners of its 2021 Best Projects competition!

First, we're excited to share the winners of two special awards. Those include ENR Southwest's Excellence in Safety Award, which is now in its ninth year as part of the annual regional Best Projects competition.

This year, ENR Southwest is honoring four projects for their outstanding safety records and jobsite procedures.

A separate panel of safety judges reviewed 34 entries, considering many factors in their decisions, including a project’s overall safety program, OSHA recordable incident rate, lost-time accident rate, as well as total worker hours on the job.

We thank this year's independent panel of safety experts for their help in deciding this year's Excellence in Safety Award. Jurors were Daniel J. Milinazzo, director of safety and health for the Plains District Office of Hensel Phelps, and Pat Salandi, safety director at Niels Fugal Sons Co. LLC.

This year's winners are:

Excellence in Safety Award
Las Vegas Convention Center, Phase II Expansion
Las Vegas
Submitted by Turner-Martin Harris Joint Venture

Excellence in Safety, Award of Merit
City of Henderson Fire Station 85
Henderson, Nev.
Submitted by Carpenter Sellers Del Gatto Architects

Excellence in Safety, Award of Merit
Santa Fe County Courthouse Historic Renovation
Santa Fe, N.M.
Submitted by Jaynes Corp.

Excellence in Safety, Award of Merit
SRP Project Administration Building (PAB) Betterment Projects
Tempe, Ariz.
Submitted by Mortenson

Our next special award is a new addition to ENR's Regional Best Projects program this year: Excellence in Sustainability. These projects also were judged by a separate jury from the main contest. Special thanks to Dr. Sandra M. Bernal, a lecturer at the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona, and Alicia Duffy, project manager with Mortenson, for comprising our inaugural panel of sustainability judges. This year, the panel selected three winning projects.

ENR Southwest's Excellence in Sustainability winners were chosen from 11 candidates. Some of the factors our judges considered were how well project teams went above and beyond baseline industry requirements, a project's overall sustainability strategy, choice of materials, energy savings and its environmental impacts, not only within its own footprint but also on the community it serves.

This year's winners are:

Excellence in Sustainability Award
The Expo at World Market Center
Las Vegas
Submitted by EV&A Architects

Excellence in Sustainability, Award of Merit
Las Vegas Convention Center, Phase II Expansion
Las Vegas
Submitted by Turner-Martin Harris Joint Venture

Excellence in Sustainability, Award of Merit
Tres Rios Water Reclamation Facility Nutrient Recovery Project
Tucson, Ariz.
Submitted by HDR

Now on to the winners of ENR Southwest's 2021 Best Projects competition. Our independent panel of experts from all corners of the AEC industry reviewed a total of 84 projects and selected 17 Best Projects and 12 Awards of Merit across 17 categories.

A big thanks go to this year's panel of experts:

  • Boe Evanson, senior project manager, The Weitz Co.
  • Kyle Fischer, principal, Ikthus Design
  • Phil Glenn, project director, Kitchell Contractors
  • Kai Kaoni, assistant professor of practice, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Construction Management and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Informatics and Applied Sciences at Northern Arizona University
  • Cesar Ochoa, civil engineer, Granite Construction Inc.

In addition to selecting category winners, our judges have also chosen five finalists for ENR Southwest's 2021 Project of the Year — that winner will be announced at our Best Projects event in November. We'll be previewing the finalists in another blog leading up to the event.

All winning project teams — as well as our Owner of the Year, Design Firm of the Year, Contractor of the Year, Specialty Contractor of the Year and Legacy Award winner — will be celebrated in Phoenix on Nov. 11 at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel. We still plan to host this event in person, but we're keeping a close eye on local health and safety guidelines and will change to a virtual event should that be required.

Click here for more information and to register for the event.

Congratulations to this year's winners, listed below by category.

Airport/Transit, Best Project
PHX Sky Train Stage 2 MSF
Phoenix
Submitted by The Weitz Co.

Airport/Transit, Award of Merit
Prescott Regional Airport Passenger Terminal
Prescott, Ariz.
Submitted by Small Giants

Cultural/Worship, Best Project
Sahuarita Regional Library
Sahuarita, Ariz.
Submitted by Line and Space LLC

Energy/Industrial, Best Project
Turquoise Solar Project 60MW
Sparks, Nev.
Submitted by McCarthy Building Cos. Inc.

Energy/Industrial, Award of Merit
Valleywise Health Medical Center Central Utility Plant and Site Upgrades
Phoenix
Submitted by Kitchell Contractors

Government/Public Building, Best Project
Santa Fe County Courthouse Historic Renovation
Santa Fe, N.M.
Submitted by Jaynes Corp.

Government/Public Building, Award of Merit
Police Property and Evidence Room Expansion
Avondale, Ariz.
Submitted by CORE Construction

Health Care, Best Project
Renown Health COVID-19 Alternative Care Facility
Reno, Nev.
Submitted by PK Electrical Inc.

Health Care, Award of Merit
HonorHealth Bob Bové Neuroscience Institute
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Submitted by Okland Construction

Higher Education/Research, Best Project
850 PBC
Phoenix
Submitted by Okland Construction

Higher Education/Research, Award of Merit
Arizona State University Health Futures Center (HFC)
Phoenix
Submitted by DPR Construction

Higher Education/Research, Award of Merit
Glenn and Ande Christenson School of Education at Nevada State College
Las Vegas
Submitted by Burke Construction Group Inc.

Highway/Bridge, Best Project
New Ajo Way Interchange Improves Safety, Traffic Flow and Livability
Tuscon, Ariz.
Submitted by Stanley Consultants

Interior/Tenant Improvement, Best Project
Meow Wolf Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Submitted by Martin-Harris Construction and Helix Electric

K-12 Education, Best Project
Cherokee Elementary School Rebuild and Remodel
Paradise Valley, Ariz.
Submitted by CORE Construction

K-12 Education, Award of Merit
Southeast Career & Technical Academy Phase II
Las Vegas
Submitted by Simpson Coulter Studio

Landscape/Urban Development, Best Project
USS Arizona Memorial Gardens at Salt River
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Ariz.
Submitted by J2 Design

Landscape/Urban Development, Award of Merit
Paloma Community Park, Phase 1
Peoria, Ariz.
Submitted by Hunter/Valleyrain Design-Build Team

Manufacturing, Best Project
Mark Anthony Brewing
Goodyear, Ariz.
Submitted by Layton Construction

Manufacturing, Award of Merit
Hamilton Medical Emergency Ventilator Manufacturing Facility
Reno, Nev.
Submitted by Alberici Constructors Inc.

Office/Retail/Mixed-Use, Best Project
Timothy J. Meenk Training Center for Sunstate Equipment Co.
Phoenix
Submitted by Sundt Construction

Renovation/Restoration, Best Project
Reno 750 Building
Reno, Nev.
Submitted by Schommer & Sons

Renovation/Restoration, Award of Merit
SRP Project Administration Building (PAB) Betterment Projects
Tempe, Ariz.
Submitted by Mortenson

Residential/Hospitality, Best Project
Circa Resort and Casino
Las Vegas
Submitted by McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. and DeSimone Consulting Engineers

Specialty Construction, Best Project
The Expo at World Market Center
Las Vegas
Submitted by EV&A Architects

Specialty Construction, Award of Merit
Meow Wolf Omega Mart
Las Vegas
Submitted by KHS&S Contractors

Sports/Entertainment, Best Project
Allegiant Stadium
Las Vegas
Submitted by McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. on behalf of the Mortenson | McCarthy Joint Venture

Sports/Entertainment, Award of Merit
Las Vegas Convention Center, Phase II Expansion
Las Vegas
Submitted by Turner-Martin Harris Joint Venture

Water/Environment, Best Project
Greenfield Water Reclamation Plant – Phase III Expansion
Gilbert, Ariz.
Submitted by Carollo Engineers Inc.

Water/Environment, Award of Merit
Derby Dam Horizontal Fish Screen
Sparks, Nev.
Submitted by Granite Construction Co.