|
Texas Construction's Tenth Annual Best of Awards
|
Jurors Deem 65 Projects Best in State for 2006
This year, 63 firms submitted 111 projects for our annual awards competition, an increase of more than 80 submissions since the program's maiden voyage a decade earlier.
by Eileen Schwartz
This marks the tenth year that Texas Construction magazine
has published the results of its best-of-the-year awards competition.
They are based on entries submitted by contractors, designers,
specialty contractors and owners working in the state. We
are pleased to present the 65 award winners on the following
pages.
The "Best Of" awards competition was launched in
1997 with less than 20 entries. Participation has grown steadily
over the past decade. Last year the program saw a dramatic
increase when 90 projects were nominated, nearly double those
submitted in 2004. This year, 63 firms submitted 111 projects.
Also this year, the number of submitting firms grew by 13
from the previous year, and total projects entered increased
by 16.
We also received a record number of design submissions - testimony
to our efforts to reach the entire industry, from design and
engineering firms to specialty and general contractors. We
believe the increase in entries, overall, shows the growing
importance Texas' A/E/C industry places on the annual competition.
|
How It Works An independent
panel of judges is asked to review the entries and choose
the best designed, built and renovated projects across the
state.
This year, projects were evaluated by a jury of five prominent
engineering, construction and architecture professionals and
industry leaders. They are:
Wayne Crew, associate director, Construction Industry Institute,
Austin
Dr. Charles Graham, Ph.D., AIA, Mitchell endowed professor,
the College of Architecture, Department of Construction Science,
Texas A&M University, College Station (see Graham's column,
"What It Takes to Win," in this issue)
Dr. William O'Brien, assistant professor; Construction Engineering
and Project Management Program; Department of Civil, Architectural,
and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at
Austin
Stephen Sharpe, editor, Texas Architect magazine, the official
publication of the Texas Society of Architects, which represents
AIA members in Texas
Ingrid Spencer, former managing editor of Architectural
Record, a McGraw-Hill Construction publication, and contributor
and current editor of archrecord.com
In early July Texas Construction begins its search for the
best designed and built projects in the state by calling for
entries from the industry. Submission criteria are made available
detailing eligibility.
This year, we changed the time in which a project must have
been completed. In previous competitions, projects must have
been completed by the end of the year, leaving many firms
feeling disadvantaged if their project was not scheduled for
completion before the September deadline, but this year's
winning projects span completion dates between Sept. 1, 2005
and Sept. 1, 2006.
Our judges convene in mid-September, and review the projects
in a number of categories depending on the variety of projects
submitted. This year's entries spanned more than 24 categories.
Using a numerical grading system from one to five, the judges
then spend a full day reviewing and scoring each project on
five criteria: construction/design innovation, solutions to
challenges, project management, client service and safety.
Design submissions are judged on unity with nearby societal
elements, rather than safety.
Winning projects are determined in four categories. The Judges'
Award is determined by the panel to be the best of all entries;
Best of Awards are given to projects with the highest scores
in each category; Awards of Excellence go to projects scoring
4.0 or above; Awards of Merit to projects scoring between
3.5 and 3.9.
This year, our judges chose three Metroplex-area projects
to tie for overall best. A Judges' Award in Construction went
to both the Texas Instruments' RFAB and the Dallas High Five
Interchange. Zachry Construction Corp. and HNTB Corp. submitted
the highway project. Austin Commercial submitted the semiconductor
manufacturing plant in Richardson. The Judges' Award for Design
went to Gromatzky Dupree & Associates for its design of
the new Akiba Yavneh Academy, a Modern Orthodox Jewish day
school in Dallas.
Statewide, 18 projects earned Best of Awards; 20 projects
won an Award of Excellence; and 24 entries received an Award
of Merit.
We are grateful to this year's judges for their time and careful
consideration of each project's merits.
We also wish to thank all the firms that submitted entries
this year.
The information and images were taken from the project submissions
and represent edited versions of the elements provided to
the judges for evaluation.
(below lists are in .pdf format)
Judges'
Awards >>
Best
of 2006 >>
Award
of Excellence >>
Awards
of Merit >>
|
print this page
e-mail this page
