The Air Force Design Awards Program, established in 1976, distinguishes and promotes the projects achieving design excellence goals related to the natural and built environment.
Three award levels were given this year: The Honor Award, which is the highest achievement, followed by the Merit Award and Citation Award.
The 2020 recipients are:
Honor Awards
• Facility Renovations and Additions: Bldg. 32 Renovation, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
• Landscape Architecture: Dyess Memorial Park, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas
• Facility Design: U.S. Strategic Command, Command Image and Interior Design, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska
• Facility Design: Flightline Fire Station, Edwards Air Force Base, California
Merit Awards
• Facility Design: Golf Course Clubhouse, Hill Air Force Base, Utah
• Facility Design: Virtual Warfare Munitions Stimulator Facility, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida
Citation Award
• Facility Design: KC-46A Flight Training Center, Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma
This year’s Design Awards three-person jury was made up of interior design and construction technology experts from AFCEC and the engineering flight chief from Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.
The seven winning projects, out of 13 entries, were judged not only on their aesthetic merits, but strong emphasis was placed on overall cost control, energy efficiency, functionality and sustainability.
“The program is much more than a contest,” said Randy Lierly, Air Force architect and Air Force Design Awards program manager. “While it’s great to be recognized for a job well done, this program is an essential tool the Air Force utilizes to declare its principles of excellence to prospective design firms engaged in Air Force projects.”
The Air Force Design Awards Program is led by AFCEC’s Facility Engineering Directorate, the unit responsible for delivering timely infrastructure solutions Air Force-wide.
The directorate provides centralized design, planning and execution for facility construction, sustainment, restoration and modernization across the Air Force enterprise.
Each of its five divisions help the Air Force maintain global reach and power through resilient and sustainable infrastructure that assures combat readiness, lethality and Airmen resilience.
“It is a valuable and important program within the Air Force,” said Lierly. “It is widely recognized throughout the federal government and supported by professionals in the private sector.”
Managing the awards program is a small part of Lierly’s daily function at AFCEC. Serving as architect of the Air Force, he is the technical expert for the Air Force architectural program, in charge of developing enterprise-level design criteria for Air Force facilities, evaluating emerging technologies and representing the Air Force in unifying Department of Defense facilities criteria.
An awards presentation is scheduled to take place during the annual AFCEC Design & Construction Partnering Symposium, scheduled for Dec. 16-17.
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