The best Midwest projects of 2023 rise to the top

From a federal biocontainment facility in tornado-prone Kansas to a center honoring the military and its history in Wisconsin to an effort to stabilize a road on a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, dozens of projects were honored this year in ENR Midwest's 2023 Best Projects , a competition that highlights the cream of the crop in the construction industry.

Judges reviewed approximately 65 projects built between May 1, 2022 and May 31, 2023, ultimately honoring 34 projects, including the winners of the Best Projects, Value Awards as well as projects shortlisted for the Excellence in Sustainability and Excellence in Safety awards. ENR Midwest.

The projects featured on the following pages have achieved excellence by addressing a wide range of challenges, including the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain delays and the ongoing shortage of skilled workers.

The winning projects exceeded not only the challenges, but also the quality of work and craftsmanship and the innovative use of design and materials.

Working in quadrants at the Chicago Park District Headquarters and Fieldhouse allowed the project team to stagger trades so that when one team was finished, it could move to the next quadrant, speeding up the construction schedule.
Photo courtesy of FH Paschen, SN Nielsen & Associates LLC

Honorees demonstrate a commitment to quality

Some examples of honorees include the Exchange Residential Tower in Detroit, which features the first application of LIFTbuild technology for high-rise construction. LIFTbuild builds from the top down, a revolutionary approach in an industry that craves innovation. LIFTbuild earned 15 patents for its unique construction processes over four years of research and development before this first proof-of-concept project begins in 2021.

Another outstanding project was the historic renovation of a 1920s-era hotel, the Belden-Stratford in Chicago, a gem of a building that had fallen into disrepair over time. A team of architects, historic preservationists, craftsmen and trade partners came together to execute the renovation of the structure that showcases Beaux Arts design. The 285,000-square-foot adaptive reuse project revealed hidden architectural elements while updating functionality and adding amenities to its 297 apartment units, completing work on budget and on time in May 2023.

Safety was the focus while repairing and stabilizing a road that sat atop a 150-foot-tall bluff overlooking a scenic Mississippi River in Alton, IL. The road had started showing signs of traffic in July 2019, leading to its closure. The slope failed in January 2020, taking about 15 feet of the roadway with it and creating a carpet about 23 feet deep. For the slope repair and road rehabilitation, GeoStabilization International provided a design-build solution consisting of several primary stabilization systems: an earth wall, a retaining wall, and a ground surface (nail) and grid stabilization system.

LIFTbuild technology takes a vertical construction approach to the assembly of traditional structural elements at the Exchange residential tower in Detroit.
Photo courtesy of Barton Malow

The top three finalists

Project of the Year finalists include the National Bio and Agro Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kan., where McCarthy Building Cos. applied the same rigorous design criteria that would apply to a commercial nuclear facility at the same site, hardening it against tornadoes. The mission of the new facility is to enable the US to conduct comprehensive research, develop vaccines and provide improved diagnostic capabilities to protect against foreign animals and zoonotic diseases that threaten the nation's food supply, agricultural economy and public health.

“The team created a new drain tile layout and installed new sump pumps to remove water from the area so work could proceed.”

—Spencer Jacobs, Client Executive, IMEG

The renovated and revitalized Book Depository in Detroit is one of the first buildings to open in Ford Motor Co.'s multi-year adaptive reuse and repositioning. of the iconic Michigan Central Station and surrounding landmark buildings. The project team's challenge was to transform the 100-year-old storied structure into a modern 21st century facility. The existing stairwells and shafts were filled with steel and concrete. New openings had to be cut through the existing slabs to make room for elevators, stairs, mechanical shafts and a 4,600-square-foot skylight that creates the building's signature atmosphere added to the 1930s-era building designed by Albert Kahn. well-known designer of factories and industrial spaces in the 20th century.

Along the way, the project team discovered flooding in the northwest corner of the building. “The team created a new drainage tile layout and installed new sump pumps to remove water from the area so the work could continue,” says Spencer Jacobs, customer executive for IMEG, who was the MEP and structural engineer on work.

Another award-winner, the Chicago Park District Headquarters and Fieldhouse features many key elements in an underserved Chicago neighborhood, including a 57,000-square-foot administration building, a 22,000-square-foot stadium with a fitness center, fitness center and an outdoor recreation area with two sports fields, large lawns, walkways, playground, nature areas and a splash pad. The two-story administrative headquarters is a circular building that is actually two structures bisected by a courtyard/walkway and connected by three bridges on the second floor. The building was constructed in quadrants, moving clockwise as work progressed.

With the support cranes, the facade of the Exchange building is placed around the edge of the floor slab and temporarily supported with a support base. The facade is installed at grade level, so there is no need for tall tower crane lifts.
Photo courtesy of Barton Malow

Safe and environmentally safe

Winners of the Excellence in Safety and Excellence in Sustainability awards stood out for their innovative approaches and execution of safety and sustainability strategies, impressing judges with outstanding records and creative approaches.

A major safety record was reported for the construction of the first US manufacturing facility for candy maker Haribo in Pleasant Prairie, Wis. Emphasis on creating and maintaining a culture of safety over two years of construction resulted in zero recordable injuries over 440,000 man-hours spent building the 510,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.

Sustainability and functionality were primary goals when renovating Pepper Construction's Cincinnati regional office in a 1912-era building that formerly housed a mattress company. Before its revival, the once-thriving 15-acre campus sat vacant for two decades. Most of the buildings were dilapidated and demolished. Faced with the challenge of bringing an older building back to life, the construction team sought to achieve a net zero specification for energy use while allowing the building envelope to breathe properly.

Eighteen feet of slope was washed away before Riverview Drive in Alton, Ill., was repaired and stabilized.
Photo courtesy of Geostabilization International

Meet the judges

ENR Midwest judges included: Angelo Arzano, senior director, HOK, St. Danielle Dy Buncio, founder and CEO of VIATechnik. Lynda Leigh, development manager, CedarSt Cos. Marc Hanson, senior director, construction operations, CRB Group. Brandon Maurisak, transit and rail project manager, HNTB. Steven Zimmerman, JTC Director, Associate Director, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. Sam Mishelow, director of client development, Meyer Najem; and Jill Katic, director of lean development and knowledge management and community sustainability at Barton Malow Holdings. Judges did not vote on projects in which their companies were involved or if they had other conflicts of interest. The winning projects, as well as the 2023 ENR Midwest Companies of the Year and Legacy Award honoree, will be recognized in Chicago on November 28. Read on to learn more about this year's Best Projects winners.