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 Framework for Design Excellence.
THE CAPITOL AWARD The highest state honor given for a transformational project - one designed for the human experience that works towards cultural transformation
This project brings the best of the city together and creates a space where the city and citizens are celebrated. It is a transportation project that celebrates its civic responsibilities and resides in the realm of true public architecture.
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The original program was a linear extension of the existing concourse. Instead of creating a long, extruded bar, the design team proposed an alternate to bend the bar into a boomerang shape. This move optimizes airfield space and shortens walking distances in the terminal. By infilling the boomerang, more amenities were introduced that were not originally in the program. A community gathering area at the corner of the L-shaped concourse functions as a town square and commercial space.
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The vaulted space welcomes natural light, emphasizes the town square as a destination, complements the vaulted space of the original departures hall, and offers views toward the Chicago skyline.
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"This is a striking addition - modest in size and scale, but not lacking in detail and thoughtful execution," said one juror. "This project is a perfect example of Design for Community though its celebration of travel, engagement of stakeholders, and champion of local arts and artists. It fully embraces the energy and excitement of travel and also provides some beautiful counterpoints of rest and contemplation for the weary traveler."

The light-filled, wing-shaped extension and renovation of Terminal 5 at O’Hare International Airport is the terminal’s first major expansion since it opened in 1993. It is the first phase of the O’Hare 21 program, an effort to modernize one of the world’s most-traveled airports.
The project began in 2017 and opened in 2023. Construction will finish in phases through 2023.
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"The terminal brings together both functionality and architectural play of light through the ceiling apertures beautifully," a juror said.
GREATEST IMPACT Project Construction Value $5 Million and Above
The Joliet Inpatient Treatment Center exemplifies the transformative power of thoughtful architecture in promoting rehabilitation, healing and overall well-being for patient-inmates and staff. As a national model, the Center demonstrates how design excellence can reshape the future of correctional facilities and improve the lives of those affected by them.
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At the intersection of healthcare and corrections, the Joliet Inpatient Treatment Center offers an innovative solution to the challenge of providing mental health care for the most violent and mentally ill inmates in the United States.
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Housed in a 185,000-sq.-ft. facility, the Center employs over 400 dedicated professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners and licensed psychologists. It features 150 single-cell mental health rooms, 50 medical rooms, a modern administration building and amenities like a kitchen, laundry area, and recreation facilities.
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Design began in 2017, and the Center opened in 2022.
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"It's worthy of an award because of its approach to occupant health and wellness - demonstrating the contributions of good architecture in a broken system," said a juror. "The daylighting is heroic - easily visible and provides a unique character for a building typology that is typically characterized by its cold hard shell and razor wire."
GREATEST IMPACT Project Construction Value Below $5 Million
Hall+Merrick Photographers
2023: Farm on Ogden
At the site of an active community garden along Ogden Avenue in the Lawndale community, the vision for Farm on Ogden was born. The innovative facility grew out of a seed planted by two key organizations with a shared vision to provide greater access to fresh produce for a neighborhood in need. Windy City Harvest and Lawndale Christian Health Center forged a relationship to create a space where local residents can learn about and gain direct access to locally sourced food options. Together, they developed programming to revitalize and strengthen a community in need of better food options, robust health services, and year-round job training in the agriculture and food industries.
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"Cities are typically places where food is consumed, not grown. This project plays an important role in introducing city dwellers to the art of agriculture," one juror said. "This project's mission hits every part of the framework for design excellence. Innovative use of wastewater in the process of growing food and raising fish."
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The facility’s design extends to the corners with an urban garden to the north and a permeably paved courtyard to the south both providing breakout space for adjacent indoor activities and community gathering space for farmer’s markets and fairs. The renovated portion of the project provides entry and includes flexible public spaces with support offices and a working commercial grade kitchen. Earthy tones of brick and wood dominate the interiors and most facades have greenery trained up them to signify history and permanence. Additionally, steel details signify Lawndale’s industrial past and support oversized signage to amplify their message. To grow Farm on Ogden’s vision, a liberal amount of glass was used at the street edge to showcase the aquaponic spaces and draw visitors in. Here the operable skylit greenhouses have been placed front and center along Ogden Avenue to encourage engagement and pique curiosity. At night the greenhouses’ UV light allows for the growth cycle to continue around the clock with an enchanting glow that advertises the building’s primary purpose: supporting Lawndale’s growth and continued transformation.
FOR EXCELLENCE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION Project Construction Value $5 Million and Above
2023: Tribune Tower Conversion
The Tribune Tower Conversion is an example of architecture as stewardship. Designed by architects John Howell and Raymond Hood and constructed in 1925, the tower was located adjacent to the Chicago Tribune’s existing printing plant. In 1935, the Radio Building was added, followed by the Television Building in 1950. In 2018, the newspaper vacated its offices, and planning began to convert the complex into luxury condominiums. Throughout the project, completed in 2022, the design team committed to retaining the identity of the historic building that is one of the most recognizable in Chicago.
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"A meaningful change of use and deconstruction of the Tribune Building," one juror said. "Hope to see more of this brand of urban renewal in the future."
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Using the original construction documents, the design team created a digital model of the entire complex to coordinate the preservation and conversion efforts. Within the 34-story Tribune Tower itself, the original core was
redesigned. Preserving and enhancing the architectural character of the non-landmarked buildings and artifacts that make up the urban composition was also a major priority. The tower's historic facade was preserved and restored, including repairing the limestone building enclosure and replacing all windows. Retaining the original buildings instead of demolishing them for new construction was a sustainable choice that reduced carbon emissions. Additionally, utilizing water from the nearby Chicago River for mechanical cooling eliminates the need for a cooling tower, avoiding added energy use.
FOR EXCELLENCE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION Project Construction Value Below $5 Million
Michael Smith
2023: Midtown Faust
The Midtown Faust building renovation in Rockford is the epitome of labor of love for Brad and Sue Roos. The Roos’ longed to see vibrancy and energy within their Midtown neighborhood. Instead of spending retirement by the pool, this couple chose to devote themselves to this very mission. With the support of neighbors and friends, they have meticulously renovated the historic structure, breathing life into this corner of Midtown.
While Midtown has seen occasional redevelopment in the last 10 years, the investment pace is slow, and first floor commercial spaces have remained vacant. For Brad and Sue to take on this one-story, 3500 square foot commercial space, they also had to take a different approach. The project required a creative approach to the physical renovation. The couple sought to engage their neighbors and offered employment opportunities. Scrappers came to take away heavy scrap metal, neighbors removed and recycled left over debris and tenants helped lay flooring.
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"The story of Midtown Faust is just amazing," said a juror. "Restoration of a historic building that regenerates its urban realm is remarkable."
EXCELLENCE IN MASTER PLANNING AWARD
Clark Street is at a crossroads. Between Montrose Avenue and Foster Avenue, Clark Street has struggled with its identity. Located between iconic Wrigleyville and historic Andersonville, this 1- mile corridor is home to a diverse population of residents and business owners. Clark Street has many assets, amenities, services, and open spaces. Yet it has never expressed a cohesive vision, and new development has led the community to question the corridor’s identity.
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"There is meaningful planning here that brings together key urban design features in to the existing urban context," a juror said.
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The Clark Street Crossroads Corridor Study will guide current and future development in the private and public realms to ensure a vibrant, safe, accessible, and thriving Clark Street with its own unique identity.
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FOR EXCELLENCE IN INTERIORS Projects 5,000 SF and Above
The Elgin Math and Science Academy is a public Charter School whose education model focuses on learning rather than teaching. This interior rehabilitation project is a planned strategy to revitalize the former Fox River Country Day School into EMSA’s new campus. Though the facilities were in severe disrepair, this effort looks to continue the legacy of this campus located in a challenging but exceptional site.
This nearly 100-year-old school campus, which is home to a rare wetland complex, is on a 53-acre site designated as an Illinois Nature Preserve. The campus contains a network of Prairie Style Buildings which the school is committed to preserving. This decision was taken to limit the disruption to the site and to encourage a connection between the users and the surroundings. The Exploratory Learning model at EMSA informed their decision to forgo the typical double-loaded corridor and instead have weaving pathways connecting these sensibly scaled buildings.
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"Sensitive and beautiful adaptive reuse with careful response to site," said one juror. "An intelligent addition to a mature campus that has grown and changed over time," said another juror. "A beautiful learning sanctuary."
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FOR EXCELLENCE IN INTERIORS Projects Under 5,000 SF
2023: State Street Apartment
This renovation explores spatial organization and material articulation in a small apartment with striking elevational views of the Chicago Loop. Domestic spaces intersect functions that support working and making, blending the creative environment of the workshop with the traditional living space of the apartment. An underused balcony is reimagined as a courtyard to provide a common and centralizing element for each room. A simple material palette is expressed as smooth or textured, thick or thin, rustic or refined. These variations articulate changes in space and program, creating moments that are distinct yet unified.
"This is a well designed and smart project, especially as it pertains to occupant use and flexibility as well materiality," a juror said. "Amazingly crafted small project!" said another juror.
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The design provides an extensive and customized program within a 1,600 square foot space. Domestic functions are coupled with new uses, such as a digital fabrication workshop, an artificially-lit interior garden, and walls and doors with dual uses that support ideation, creativity and making. The client needed an interior organization that would facilitate continual movement, but also distinction, between domestic, work and leisure activities. This suggested a spatial resolution that was neither a collection of isolated rooms nor an open and unvarying loft. Rather, different functions are articulated through millwork elements and expressed through subtle material variations. Secondary design elements – such as furniture, lighting, hardware and controls – are absorbed into this material language in order to further the architectural proposition. The architectural resolution is simultaneously reductive and expansive – refining the materials and elements within the design, while also multiplying uses and functions within the space.
PREVIOUS AIA ILLINOIS DESIGN AWARD RECIPIENTS
THE CAPITOL AWARD
2022 UIUC Campus Instructional Facility
2021 Tierra Linda
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FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE BUILDINGS
For Projects 5,000 SF & Over
2022 UIUC Campus Instructional Facility
2021 Rolling Knolls
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FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE BUILDINGS
For Projects Under 5,000 SF
2022 Yannell PHIUS+ Residence
2021 Carroll Center Renovation Addition
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GREATEST IMPACT AWARD
Project Construction Value $5 Million and Above
2022 Navy Pier Flyover
2021 CTA Garfield Gateway Station
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GREATEST IMPACT AWARD
Project Construction Value Below $5 Million
2022 North Lawndale Employment Network
2021 Whitney M. Young, Jr. Branch Library
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EXCELLENCE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARD
Project Construction Value Below $5 Million
2021 Fire Restoration of 1890's Orland P. Bassett House
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EXCELLENCE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARD
Project Construction Value $5 Million and Above
2022 Chicago Cultural Center Grand Army of the Republic Rooms Restoration
2022 CTA Quincy Station Restoration + Renovation
2021 Cook County Hospital
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EXCELLENCE IN MASTER PLANNING AWARD
2022 Illinois Capitol 2050 Master Plan
2021 Twin Embraces: An Integrated and Community-Focused
Approach for the Obama Presidential Center
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EXCELLENCE IN INTERIORS AWARD
For Projects 5,000 SF and Above
2022 Steppenwolf Theatre Campus Expansion
2021 The Night Ministry
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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