Seven IMEG projects across the U.S. have been named ENR 2024 Regional Best Projects, with two of them—the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center and the Advanced Engineering Building at University of Nevada, Las Vegas—named national Best of the Best in their categories. Another seven IMEG projects were honored with awards of merit.

Following are the projects grouped by ENR region:

California 

Kaiser Permanente’s new Radiation Oncology and Imaging Center in Bellflower, CA, won an ENR California Best Project Award of Merit in the Health Care category. The new facility provides advanced cancer treatment technology, including three linear accelerators and a CT scanner, to more patients in Southern California. The center also houses a medical office building and shelled space for future technology. IMEG provided structural design and construction administration services for the project. Turner Construction Co. Submitted the nomination. Read the IMEG case study. 

Mid-Atlantic 

Potomac Yard Metrorail Station in Alexandria, VA, won ENR MidAtlantic Best Project in the Airport/Transit category. The infill station, proposed more than 40 years ago, is located between the Braddock Road and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Stations and is less than 15 minutes from the nation’s capital. The Metro station is part of a larger development that includes a new Virginia Tech Innovation Campus and mixed-use retail and apartment buildings.  IMEG developed plans for the parcels in and around the station, including the infrastructure plans, development blocks, North Potomac Yard Park, and the Interim Metro Plaza Park. Halmar International submitted the nomination. Read more. 

Midwest 

Four IMEG projects are among ENR Midwest’s Best Projects for 2024, and one is the ENR Midwest Project of the Year.

The Missouri Botanical Garden’s Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center in St. Louis won Project of the Year and Best Project in the Cultural/Worship category. Nationally it has also won the Best of the Best Project for its category. The new LEED Gold visitor center (pictured) houses an event center, gift shop, meeting spaces, restaurant with garden views, auditorium, and conservatory. The project also included the renovation of the historic Linnean House—the oldest continuously operated public greenhouse west of the Mississippi. IMEG provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and technology design for the project, which expanded the facility’s ability to handle a higher visitor flow and host community events, indoor weddings, and world-class seminars on botany.  IMEG submitted the nomination. Read the IMEG case study.

21c Museum Hotel in St. Louis won Best Project in the Renovation/Restoration category. Formerly a YMCA in downtown St. Louis, the renovated 21c Museum Hotel includes 173 guest rooms and suites, as well as exhibition, meeting, and event space showcasing rotating curated exhibitions, interactive art installations, and cultural programming in collaboration with local and national arts organizations. IMEG provided civil, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, technology, and acoustics design, as well as construction support for the renovation, which adhered to requirements from the SHPO for historic preservation. Russell submitted the nomination. Read more. 

Barstool Sports, Inc. in Chicago won Best Project in the Interior/Tenant Improvement category. The sports and entertainment creative content firm fitted out a “fantasy factory” concept for its two-story, 39,000-sf Chicago headquarters. The tenant improvement converted a warehouse into an office featuring nine podcast studios, three broadcast studios, three video studios, a commercial kitchen, and basketball court. IMEG provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technology services.  Clune Construction submitted the nomination. Read more. 

Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences Campus in West Des Moines, IA, won an Award of Merit in the Higher Education/Research category. The 350,000-square-foot, 88-acre, all-electric campus includes classrooms, teaching labs, gymnasium/fitness center, administrative areas, a parking garage, and central utility plant. The learning environment is flexible for active learning and small group work, and immersive simulation areas reflect modern care facilities to give students real-world experience. IMEG provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection design for the all-electric, LEED Silver project. RDG Planning & Design submitted the nomination. Read the IMEG case study. 

New York/New Jersey 

KIPP Hatch Middle School in Camden, NJ, won an ENR New York/New Jersey Best Project Award in the K-12 Education category. IMEG provided structural engineering services for the project, which completely renovated a school, which was built in 1923 and had a three-story addition in the 1980s. Structural work included the reinforcement of floors and load bearing walls for new openings to allow for the addition of mechanical systems, support of rooftop mechanical units, and replacement of the 1980s building roof that was observed to have multiple roof truss failures during the initial due diligence study. INTECH Construction submitted the nomination. Learn more.

Northeast 

Winthrop Center in Boston won an ENR Northeast Award of Merit in the Office/Retail/Mixed-Use category. The office space at Winthrop Center, a 53-story, mixed-use tower in Boston’s financial district, Passive House Institute-certified as the largest office space that adheres to the principles worldwide.  IMEG provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering design for the fit-out of three amenity floors that include fitness studios, shower and locker rooms, bar and kitchen spaces, screening rooms, dining rooms, art galleries, private gathering spaces, and child-dedicated areas. DeSimone Consulting Engineering submitted the nomination. Read more. 

Northwest

The Lynnwood Link Extension, L300 NE 200th to Lynnwood Transit Center in Seattle, WA, won Best Excellence in Safety and Best Project Award of Merit in the Highway/Bridge category. The project expands light rail transportation in the Puget Sound region and is expected to service between 47,000 and 55,000 daily riders by 2026. The Lynnwood Link Extension consists of four light rail stations between Northgate and the Lynwood Transit Center. IMEG provided mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering, lighting design, and energy services. Skanska USA Civil submitted the nomination. Read more.

Southwest 

The Advanced Engineering Building at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, won Best Project in the Higher Education/Research category and was also named a 2024 Best of the Best project at the national level. The new three-story, 52,000-sf facility is in the university’s Innovation Corridor and serves as a hub for interdisciplinary studies. The building houses labs, a maker space, a “flexatorium,” and outdoor drone space for research in robotics, cybersecurity, biomedical engineering, energy and water, and artificial intelligence. IMEG provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technology design for the facility. CORE Construction submitted the nomination. Read the IMEG case study. 

Texas & Louisiana  

Frisco Public Library in Frisco, TX, won an ENR Texas & Louisiana Best Project Award in the Renovation/Restoration category and was a Project of the Year finalist. The 158,000-sf former Beal Aerospace building was transformed into the new Frisco Public Library. Tripling the space of the former library, it features reading rooms for all ages, a social staircase, a new community event center, second-floor mezzanine, and rooftop terrace.  JQ, now IMEG provided structural engineering, civil engineering, and land survey services for the project. Byrne Construction Services submitted the nomination. Learn more.

Harwood Park in Dallas won an ENR Texas & Louisiana Award of Merit in the Landscape/Urban Development category. The new 4-acre urban park serves the Dallas Farmers Market area, linking downtown with Deep Ellum. Design and play structures drew inspiration from Columbian mammoths that roamed the plains of North Texas 12,000 years ago. JQ, now IMEG provided structural engineering services for renovations of the existing buildings that were incorporated into the urban park. The Beck Group submitted the nomination. Learn more.

Memorial Hermann The Woodlands, Phase 2 in Houston won an ENR Texas & Louisiana Award of Merit in the Interior/Tenant Improvement category. IMEG provided structural engineering for the multiphase $33.7-million renovation across 23 departments on Memorial Hermann’s existing campus. Renovated areas included pharmacy, central sterile processing, kitchen servery, dining, radiology, material management, operating rooms, and post-anesthesia care. Austin Commercial LP submitted the nomination.

Wylie WTP IV Filter Repairs in Wylie, TX, won an ENR Texas & Louisiana Award of Merit in the Water/Environment Category. Excessive leakage from the filter cells into the filter influent and effluent pipe galleries due to deficient concrete conditions prompted structural repairs to the existing gallery to filter cell common walls. Improvements consist of 8-inch-thick dry shotcrete application on over 12,000-sf of gallery wall. Shotcreting was selected as primary concrete delivery due to severely limited access to the gallery making conventional cast-in-place construction infeasible. Improvements were sequenced with seasonal water delivery demands and filter operations restrictions. The project provides the District with improved safe working conditions and facility longevity. Other improvements include new sample stations and associated piping, new gallery sump control, and rehabilitation of Filter 4 interior. JQ, now IMEG served as the prime consultant providing project management, structural engineering, and survey services. Felix Construction Co. submitted the nomination.