The use of CM at-risk enabled contractors and engineers to quickly deliver a complex project key to solving Atlanta’s drinking-water supply problem.

Updates about construction professionals.

Rich data from Dodge Data & Analytics.

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.

The four-story, 104,149-sq-ft expansion and renovation of the Georgia Aquarium houses a 1-million-gallon shark exhibit—one of the largest in North America. With its floor-to-ceiling acrylic viewing windows, the gallery, which was completed in November 2020, brings visitors face-to-face with these predators and aims to provide a fresh perspective on the role sharks play in the health of the ocean.

Duke University’s 150,000-sq-ft engineering building is designed to promote active student learning and collaboration among the next generation of engineers.

Designed by Gensler, this three-floor upfit was created with agility and adaptability in mind. Straying from the traditional office hierarchy model, the design adopts a uniform office structure where all offices occupy identical dimensions.

BE&K Building Group led an interior upfit that transformed a 30-year-old, one-story shell space into a cutting-edge BSL-2 laboratory and biomanufacturing suite.

Part of Allen Morris Co.’s live-work-play Star Metals development in Atlanta’s West Midtown district, this nine-story, 675,000-sq-ft mixed-use development was “filled with obstacles,” according to the project team. The hurdles included zero laydown area and the need to remove roughly 15,000 cu yd of rock. 

Part of Allen Morris Co.’s live-work-play Star Metals development in Atlanta’s West Midtown district, this nine-story, 675,000-sq-ft mixed-use development was “filled with obstacles,” according to the project team. The hurdles included zero laydown area and the need to remove roughly 15,000 cu yd of rock. 

Although it features just eight floors of guest rooms, conference rooms and boardrooms, the new AC Hotel Orlando could make a claim that it’s the tallest hotel in downtown.

First completed in the late 1930s, North Carolina State University’s Memorial Belltower had always lacked a key component—the bells. Instead, four loudspeakers had for decades broadcast bell sounds across the campus. In the decades since, the iconic campus landmark had suffered from water intrusion and other issues.

This adaptive reuse project transformed an empty, 1980s-era outlet mall located near Research Triangle Park into a modern facility offering Class A office space as well as laboratory space. 

To develop its first wide-scale production testing facility, biotech company GRAIL wanted to move quickly. It called on contractor Brasfield & Gorrie to deliver the $38-million, 200,000-sq-ft project in 5.5 months.

Located in Uptown Charlotte, the 27-story, 1.3 million-sq-ft Ally tower is comprised of nearly 800,000 sq ft of office space, a subterranean level that includes an eight-story precast concrete parking deck and retail and open plaza space.

Representing Nashville’s largest single mixed-use development, this $400-million, 6.2-acre destination sits in the heart of downtown, adjacent to the city’s renowned Ryman Auditorium, Bridgestone Arena and Honky Tonk Row.

After nearly three years of renovations and expansions, CocoWalk received a significant upgrade that not only delivered an updated 804,000-sq-ft mixed-use development, but modernized it for years to come. 

This project—representing a collaborative effort between The Trust for Public Land, the Atlanta Dept. of Parks and Recreation, the city’s Dept. of Watershed Management and the local community—reinvigorates the once-bustling Vine City neighborhood, which had become one of Atlanta’s most distressed communities and a victim of persistent flooding. 

Nearly 15 years in the making, St. Petersburg’s new pier offers 26 acres of interactive experiences culminating at a pier stretching more than 3,000 ft into Tampa Bay.

This Greenville, S.C., science center, part of the Greenville County School System, is intended to educate both students and the general public on how sustainable resources directly impact the local community and the county water shed.

When Hurricane Irma slammed into Tampa Bay in September 2017, it nearly destroyed a local historic elementary school in Tampa Heights—the city’s oldest suburb.

In February 2020, heavy rains caused a landslide on U.S. 231 between Arab and Huntsville, Ala., making the highway impassible and dangerous.

Originally constructed in 1927, the open spandrel concrete arch bridge is well known to travelers on both land and water.

This project provides a new home for the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering’s education, research and entrepreneurship initiatives by bringing together faculty and students from various departments.

Situated in the heart of campus, the 176,000-sq-ft predominantly brick and glass double-tower structure is more than twice the size of the previous home of the College of Business.

Completed in just 13 months, this 94,000-sq-ft structural-steel high-bay hangar facility was built on a 232-acre site at the Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Ala., to enable aircraft manufacturer Airbus to better serve its U.S. airline clients.

To reduce the university’s energy costs while avoiding the capital expenditures needed to expand the existing energy plant’s cooling capacity, the design and construction team delivered a 3.5-million-gallon chilled water, thermal energy storage tank in May 2020.

In planning its first plant on U.S. soil, wood products manufacturer EGGER aimed to build a facility that exceeded its already exacting standards.

The existing 66,700-sq-ft, 1970s-era office building provided an ideal opportunity for ASHRAE to apply its own building standards to transform a conventional structure into a net-zero energy building, thereby showcasing sustainability in action. 

The complete renovation of a 40-year-old library designed by renowned brutalist architect Marcel Breuer required a major structural renovation throughout the 10-story building to allow the facility to function as a modern library.

This stunning five-story repository for Tennessee’s collection of books and public/historic records replaces the oldest archives building in the nation and includes three stories dedicated to the library and archives, one level of below-grade parking and a single-story mechanical penthouse. 

With a strong commitment to supporting the local community throughout the project, a joint venture of Skanska USA and Holt Brothers delivered a nearly 95,000-sq-ft renovation and addition to a major public building in Durham, N.C., giving it a new sense of prominence.

This project transformed Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s smallest yet most used Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint into one of the most technologically advanced checkpoints in the world—all while keeping it fully operational, according to the project team. 

When the first design offered for Norwegian Cruise Line’s new flagship terminal at PortMiami was initially delivered, it looked nothing like the striking, curvilinear building that now stands out so singularly at the site. 

Before construction of the Marcus Tower, navigating Piedmont Atlanta Hospital often proved extremely confusing for patients.

The project team for the St. Croix National Guard base facility went to great lengths to deliver the hospital in just 22 days.

The Riviera Utilities Wastewater Treatment Facility provides additional treatment capacity to accommodate future growth and regulatory demands.

The Lift Station 87 project consisted of constructing a 50-ft-deep wet well topped by a two-story building.