Honor Awards: DESIGN
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.
THE CAPITOL AWARD The highest state honor given for a transformational project - one designed for the human experience that works towards cultural transformation

Dave Burk | SOM
The Campus Instructional Facility (CIF) is a new center for flexible learning designed to meet the changing needs of students and faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Located at the northwest corner of the Bardeen Quadrangle, this teaching hub enables collaboration and incorporates new technologies for hands-on learning. CIF has proved to be highly popular as a learning and teaching facility with a mix of both traditional and innovative classrooms and has been included in an advanced engineering course. The University partnered with developer Vermilion Campbell in a public-private partnership to deliver a highly sustainable variety of flexible learning spaces while introducing a successful new financial model for University of Illinois projects.
FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE BUILDINGS Projects 5,000 SF & Above

Dave Burk | SOM
Innovative and sustainable choices in building systems and materials extend the project’s potential to adapt beyond the 60 year industry standard. Sustainability features include ground source heat exchange, radiant heating and cooling panels, community solar, improved air quality through low VOC materials, and dynamic glazing, and seamlessly integrating radiant cooling and heating. The 60-ft long-span bay also provided ample space to co-locate building services that can be reconfigured for future use. CIF is certified LEED Platinum and will perform 54% above the ASHRAE standard and 82% above the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey standard. The ground source heat exchange located in the quad is expected to reduce building energy consumption by 65%. A post occupancy evaluation OF Embodied and whole life carbon is on track to achieve net zero operational carbon in its first year—a milestone in the university’s pledge to reach carbon neutrality across its campus by 2050.
FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE BUILDINGS Projects Under 5,000 SF
2022: Yannell PHIUS+ Residence
The project was conceived to demonstrate to the growing speculative home renovation building market that renovations can achieve the greatest level of energy efficiency and sustainability by meeting PHIUS+ (Passive House) benchmarks, thus meeting 2050 decarbonization goals, providing a model for existing building electrification and development profit. Following strict PHIUS guidelines, one of the neighborhood’s original homes from the 1890s was completely reinterpreted and re-engineered into the home of the future along a commuter rail corridor, where thousands of people were able to watch the structure’s transformation.
Christopher Barrett Photography
GREATEST IMPACT Project Construction Value $5 Million and Above
2022: Navy Pier Flyover
The Navy Pier Flyover added a missing link in the Chicago Lakefront Trail which runs along 18 miles of Chicago's shoreline. The project is an elevated path just over a 1/2 mile long running north and south with a branch running to the east. It includes two sets of stairs with integrated wheel tracks for bikes. it crosses two streets, where colorful silhouettes depict bikes and runners in action forming portals to the Navy Pier neighborhood. As a complex urban project it had a very long gestation period with design and construction spanning 15 years finally opening in 2021.
GREATEST IMPACT Project Construction Value Below $5 Million
Tom Harris Architectural Photography
The North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN) addresses the AIA’s Ten Principles for livable communities by revitalizing an existing piece of infrastructure, developing a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly building, creating a strong neighborhood identity, and protecting environmental resources.
NLEN is a nonprofit organization that supports residents returning from incarceration and others who face the day-to-day financial hardships of poverty by providing pathways to economic prosperity. When an abandoned former bank building in the North Lawndale neighborhood became available, NLEN seized the opportunity to relocate all their programming under one roof, providing a place of gathering and growth for the whole community.
FOR EXCELLENCE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION Project Construction Value $5 Million and Above
Located in the heart of Chicago’s South Loop Financial District, and first opened in 1897, the Quincy Street Elevated CTA Station, one of the oldest in Chicago, is a designated Chicago Landmark, and listed as one of AIA Illinois’ “150 Great Places in Illinois.” The Station includes metal-clad Classical Revival Stationhouses connected by a mezzanine, and passenger walkways. As a restoration/renovation project the design reinforces and improves connectivity with the community by making it accessible to all, and by retaining this important landmark as a contributor to physical architectural context in this historic district.
Darris Lee Harris Photography
FOR EXCELLENCE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION Project Construction Value $5 Million and Above
The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Rooms, located in the north wing of the Chicago Cultural Center, were meticulously restored by a team of architects, specialty consultants, contractors, and tradespeople. The project took over two years to complete (November 2019 to March 2022) and was funded as a $15,000,000 gift to the City of Chicago from an anonymous donor. The rooms are some of the most important historic interior spaces in Chicago and are landmarked.
Tom Rossiter Photography
EXCELLENCE IN MASTER PLANNING AWARD
Lothan Van Hook DeStefano Architecture | WRT | John Milner Associates Preservation
The Illinois State Capitol 2050 Master Plan provides a long term vision and comprehensive framework to guide growth and investment for the Illinois Capitol Complex for the next five, ten and twenty-five years and beyond for the capitol campus in Springfield.
This master plan is the first ever plan to address this wider Capitol Complex study area and attempt to integrate planning for the capitol functions in Springfield with the symbiotic relationships of the city and regional urban development adjacent to it. The planning effort was led by the Illinois Capitol Development Board and the Office of the Architect of the Capitol. The Master Plan includes detailed facility assessment reports for renovation or replacement of all buildings on the campus, including the Stratton Executive Office Building, which they propose to demolish and replace. This is central to the way the plan plays out. By removing the Stratton building, a significant amount of new green space can be recovered adjacent to the State Capitol Building. Also, in demolishing the Stratton Building a new Central Electrical Chiller Plant can be installed, advancing the sustainable infrastructure required to begin the transformation of the Capitol into a carbon neutral operating environment. New buildings will be constructed which include space for retail and other amenities on campus to create a more vibrant and attractive urban environment.
FOR EXCELLENCE IN INTERIORS Projects 5,000 SF and Above
The Steppenwolf Theatre Campus Expansion, also known as the Liz and Eric Lefkofsky Arts and Education Center, includes a new 50,000 sf state-of-the-art theater based on the concept of Collision: that interactions between the actor and audience establishes dynamic and intimate spatial relationships, as well new relationships between the patrons, the neighborhood, and Chicago.
James Steinkamp
PREVIOUS AIA ILLINOIS DESIGN AWARD RECIPIENTS
THE CAPITOL AWARD
2021 Tierra Linda
FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE BUILDINGS
For Projects 5,000 SF & Over
2021 Rolling Knolls
FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE BUILDINGS
For Projects Under 5,000 SF
2021 Carroll Center Renovation Addition
GREATEST IMPACT AWARD
Project Construction Value $5 Million and Above
2021 CTA Garfield Gateway Station
GREATEST IMPACT AWARD
Project Construction Value Below $5 Million
2021 Whitney M. Young, Jr. Branch Library
EXCELLENCE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARD
Project Construction Value Below $5 Million
2021 Fire Restoration of 1890's Orland P. Bassett House
EXCELLENCE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARD
Project Construction Value $5 Million and Above
2021 Cook County Hospital
EXCELLENCE IN MASTER PLANNING AWARD
2021 Twin Embraces: An Integrated and Community-Focused
Approach for the Obama Presidential Center
EXCELLENCE IN INTERIORS AWARD
For Projects 5,000 SF and Above
2021 The Night Ministry
EXCELLENCE IN INTERIORS AWARD
For Projects Under 5,000 SF
2021 Ardmore House
LOUIS SULLIVAN PRIZE
2020 University of Chicago Keller Center
2019 Unity Temple Restoration
2017 Chicago Public Library Chinatown Branch
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
2020 Carter Woodson Regional Chicago Public Library Restoration
2019 Chicago Public Library, West Loop Branch
2017 Austin Gardens Environmental Education Center by TBDArchitects
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
2020 95th / Dan Ryan CTA Station
2019 Washington / Wabash CTA Station
2017 DeKalb's Haish Memorial Public Library
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
2020 Chicago Union Station Hall Restoration
2019 The Newberry Library
2017 Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative
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
2020 Chicago Park District, South Lakefront Framework Plan
2019 Planned Agricultural District (PAD): A Vision for West Garfield
2017 Master Plan for Woodlawn Park
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