AROUND THE PARISH
Goodwood Main Library Takes Top Prize
ENR Regional ‘Best Overall Project of the Year’ Award
goes to Main Library at Goodwood
Already chosen as the winner of the ENR Regional Best Government / Public Project, the Main Library at Goodwood has now been selected as the Winner of ‘Best Overall Project of the Year’ for the ENR Texas & Louisiana region, which assesses projects from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. The announcement was made on December 18, 2014 at the ENR Texas & Louisiana annual awards event in Houston.
The ENR (Engineering News-Record) Best Projects Awards celebrate and honor the building teams that created the best projects of 2014 nationwide. Projects are selected by juries of local prominent industry professionals in 12 regions across the United States. Categories awarded cover a variety of building and highway/heavy categories - from Best Green Project to Best Highway Project and many more. This fall, an independent jury of industry experts determined the winners from more than 80 regional project submissions. Winners were selected for 18 categories and eighteen projects were awarded the highest honor of “Best Project” in their respective categories. The Main Library at Goodwood was previously announced as the regional winner for the category ‘Best Government/Public Buildings Project for 2014’, qualifying it for consideration for ‘Best Overall Project of the Year’. The Main Library at Goodwood was then chosen from all 18 categories to take the top honors for the region.
The Main Library at Goodwood is a pay-as-you-go project of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library. Located in BREC’s Independence Park, the Library’s staff and design team collected and refined input from patrons for many years and worked closely with representatives of BREC to create a shared campus for citizens of all ages and interests.
General Contractor for the project is Milton J. Womack Inc. of Baton Rouge. The project was designed by The Library Design Collaborative, a joint venture of Baton Rouge firms Cockfield Jackson Architects and Tipton Associates and Dallas firm Dewberry Architects Inc.
Upon being notified of the ‘Best Overall’ award, Library Director Spencer Watts stated, “It was already gratifying to be selected as the ‘Best Government/Public Project for 2014’ for this five state region, and I believe this high-profile award reflects positively on Baton Rouge as a community. However, we were truly excited to be awarded the ‘Best Overall Project for 2014’. This top award demonstrates that we have an outstanding building that has been warmly embraced by the public and is being well used.”
“This success is a direct result of the efforts of our strong and talented design team and the leadership of the Library Board of Control in collaboration with all of the men and women who worked so hard to plan and construct the building. Based on the ideas, input and enthusiastic support of the general public, the new Main Library at Goodwood is a dynamic, functional, and innovative space that utilizes many green principles. It does a wonderful job on a daily basis of meeting the public’s needs for the present and has the capacity to be highly flexible and adapt to meet the changing needs of the public.”
Library Board President, Tanya Freeman commented, “It is truly wonderful news to learn that our new Main Library took the top honors for this prestigious regional award. To be selected as the “Best of the Best” from among so many other extraordinary entries from all across this five-state region means that others are recognizing what so many Baton Rouge residents have already seen: our new Main Library at Goodwood is absolutely THE place to go!”
In selecting the winners, the judging panel was charged with finding the teams that truly demonstrated an ability to find creative solutions in the face of unique and sometimes formidable challenges. This year’s panel:
Wayne Crew, Director, The Construction Industry Institute, University of Texas at Austin;
Brian Benefiel, Director of Preconstruction Services, Hoar Construction;
Dana Birkes, Chief Marketing Officer, Clifford Power Systems, Inc.; and
Steve Penson, Regional Manager, Austin Commercial.
This year's award winners represented a wide array of construction projects in varied markets that were completed in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014. The winning projects are covered in more detail in the December 15/22 issue of ENR Texas & Louisiana. A complete list of all the winners by category is found at: http://bit.ly/1rvE1zI.
According to ENR columnist Louise Poirier, this year's “Best Overall Project of the Year” award for the region came down to two finalists: the Leonel J. Castillo Community Center (Best Project, Renovation/Restoration) and the East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library (Best Project, Government/Public Buildings).
The judges' final selection for 2014 Best Overall Project of the Year—the East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library—was announced on December 18 at the ENR Awards Event in Houston and is featured at http://texas.construction.com/texasconstructionprojects/ :
ENR’s Louise Poirier introduced the East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library as the winner, stating, “Every year, our jury is asked to recognize a project that stands out above all the rest. This project (East Baton Rouge Main Library) was a clear favorite of our jury, receiving very high marks for innovation, quality and complexity. This project is also a category winner, taking top honors in the Government/Public Buildings category.”