Honor Awards: DESIGN
The Awards are returning in 2019. Watch for the Call for Entries the first week of March!
The AIA Illinois Honor Awards program is the only awards competition in the nation to focus on projects and people that closely adhere to the AIA’s Principles of Livable Communities.
LOUIS SULLIVAN PRIZE for Best Design of the Year

2017: Chicago Public Library Chinatown Branch
The design of the Chicago Public Library, (CPL) Chinatown Branch, provides a much-needed public gathering space geared toward inclusive community activities and technology-based learning, with a transformative design that balances elegant aesthetics, pragmatic programming, and green design solutions. The design team from firms Wight and Co. and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill worked with library and city officials to identify opportunities for flexibility and programmatic overlap inside the building, reducing the initial space need from 20,000 square feet to 16,000 square feet, optimizing costs and increasing long-term utility. The plan eliminates excess circulation, single-function rooms, and non-assignable areas, creating efficiencies between spaces, allowing for changing needs of library technology.
2016 Harper Court by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
2015 Northerly Island Framework Plan by SmithGroupJJR
2014 Great Lakes Vision Plan by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
2013 Randolph Tower by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
2012 Lambert - St. Louis International Airport Main Terminal Vault Renovation &
Restoration by exp.
2010 Contemporaine by Perkins + Will
2009 Yannell Net Zero Energy Residence by Farr Associates
2008 Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies by Krueck & Sexton Architects
2007 Springfield Union Station Rehabilitation by White & Borgognoni Architects, P.C.
2006 Hardrock Hotel Chicago by White & Borgognoni Architects, P.C.
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AWARD For Connection to Environment

2017: Austin Gardens Environmental Education Center
Tom Bassett-Dilley, AIA, of TBDArchitects led a team to create the blueprint for a new building that will provide 2,100 square feet of space for the Austin Gardens Environmental Education Center. The design provides the Park District of Oak Park with a place to inspire and teach lessons about energy conservation, water conservation, and connection to nature. The Honor Awards jury was impressed by the efforts made to tie landscape, nature and sustainable practices together for a building which “seems to belong both to the park and to the landscape.”
2016 University of Chicago Saieh Hall by Ann Beha Architects
2015 Intrinsic School by Wheeler Kearns Architects
2014 City of Aurora, John C. Dunham Pavillion at RiverEdge Park by Muller & Muller, Ltd.
2013 Dallas City Performance Hall by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
2012 Hidden Oaks Nature Center by Wight & Company
2010 Hyde Park Bank Investment Real Estate Loan Processing Center by Florian Architects
2009 Champaign Public Library by Ross Barney Architects
2008 Grayslake North High School by FGM Architects
2007 Levy Senior Center by Ross Barney Architects
2006 Millenium Park Bicycle Station by Muller & Muller, Ltd.
MIES VAN DER ROHE AWARD For Innovation

2017: DeKalb’s Haish Memorial Public Library
Tripling the size of DeKalb’s Haish Memorial Public Library without compromising the integrity of the original structure was the primary challenge for Don McKey, AIA, Design Principal, of Nagle Hartray Architecture. A variety of site and architectural design choices that allowed for horizontal expansion so that the height of the addition matches the original structure, achieved the goal. An innovative strategy was fundamental to keeping the Haish Library as the community’s public library. Without space to adapt and repurpose the existing 18,000 square feet building to 46,000 square feet, the building would have been abandoned in favor of another, larger location.
2016 CTA Cermak McCormick Place Station by Carol Ross Barney
2015 William Jones College Preparatory High School by Perkins+Will
2014 The Genevieve and Wayne Gratz Center at Fourth Presbyterian Church
by Gensler Chicago
2013 Chicago Law Firm by 4240 Architecture, Inc.
2012 North Central College, Wentz Concert Hall & Fine Arts Center
by Loebl Schlossman & Hackl
2010 College of DuPage Technology Education Center by DeStefano Partners
2009 SOS Children's Village Community Center by Studio Gang Architects
2008 Museum of Science and Industry Conservation and Relocation of the U-505
Submarine by Goettsch Partners
2007 Evelyn Pease Tyner Interpretive Center by Wight & Company
2006 Heart Hospital at Swedish American by PERKINS + WILL
CROMBIE TAYLOR AWARD For Preservation

2017: Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative
The Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative (DA+HC) is a cornerstone project of Rebuild Foundation’s broader vision to reactivate underutilized and abandoned buildings in Chicago’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood as part of an ambitious movement of community restoration, preservation, and rejuvenation. The project features a rehabilitated block of 32 of the original 36 two- and three-bedroom former Chicago Housing Authority townhouse units that now provide mixed-income housing. The project was led by Catherine Baker, AIA, Principal, Landon Bone Baker Architects, and embodies a successful collaboration between private, public, and non-profit sectors committed to showcasing the value of existing buildings as catalysts for social change through the integration of art, architecture, and community involvement.
2016 Chicago Athletic Association renovation by Hartshorne Plunkard Architects
2015 Grove Apartments by Weese Langley Weese
2014 Harvest Commons Apartments by Landon Bone Baker Architects
2013 Hairpin Lofts and The Arts Center - Logan Square, Avondale
by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
2012 Sullivan Center by Harboe Architects
2010 The Palmer House Restoration by Loebl Schlossman & Hackl
2009 Chicago Cultural Center Preston Bradley Hall Restoration by Holabird & Root LLC
2008 Krause Music Store and Studio V by Wheeler Kearns Architects
2007 The Illinois State Capitol: Renovation of the House & Senate Chambers
by Vinci | Hamp Architects, Inc.
2006 Metropolitan Capital Bank by OWP/P
DANIEL BURNHAM AWARD For Master Planning

2017: Master Plan for Woodlawn Park
The Master Plan for Woodlawn Park was led by Catherine Baker, AIA, Principal, Landon Bone Baker Architects, and features one of the first master plans in the country to emphasize streetscape development as a force for neighborhood stabilization and revitalization. It also addresses the imperatives of environmental consciousness in its short-term and long-term vision. Pedestrian-friendly streetscapes with transit-oriented goals, low carbon footprints, and other environmentally sensitive building contributions emphasize Woodlawn Park’s commitment to sustainability. To address the cycles of population decline and disinvestment in the existing Section 8 Grove Parc housing project, which had destabilized the Cottage Grove corridor, an important and vital link to the University of Chicago, the plan focused on public transit as a connection to the University of Chicago, and catalyst for future Woodlawn development.
2016 Positioning Pullman by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
2015 Bloomingdale Trail Framework Plan by Ross Barney Architects
2014 Sustainable Chicago 2015 Action Agenda by Shaw Environmental Design
Solutions of Illinois, LLC
2013 Chicago Central Area DeCarbonization Plan by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill
Architecture
2012 Navy Pier Centennial Plan by Gensler Chicago
2010 Lakeshore East by Loewenberg Architects / SOM
2009 Holy Family Ministries Center by FGM Architects
2008 Mexicantown Master Plan, Mercado, Plaza + Retail/Office Block
by Teng & Associates, Inc.
2007 Wabash Memorial Plaza by Ross Barney Architects
2006 The University Villiage at UIC by Wight & Company
HONOR AWARD For Student Design

2017: Seychelle Reed
Reed, a student at The School of the Art Institute Chicago, imagined the Obama Presidential Center with a reflective cantilever canopy extruding into the park, with an asymmetrical glass curtain wall, behind which is a floor to ceiling wall of electronic tablets. The design includes a glass floored basketball court for neighborhood children, a free-floating gallery space for local artists, and Foundation offices.
2016 Jeremy Gentile
2015 Nate White