Winners of the Lerch Bates People's Choice Awards Announced by AIA Chicago

AIA Chicago, the second largest local chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the collective voice of over 4,000 licensed architects, emerging professionals, architecture students, and allied professionals, announced the winners for the 2023 Design Excellence Awards, Decarbonization Award, Roberta Feldman Architecture for Social Justice Award, the Lerch Bates People’s Choice Awards and bestowed the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award at Designight 2023, AIA Chicago’s signature award program, held at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago’s Millennium Park on Thursday, September 28, 2023.

Lerch Bates President Eric Rupe presented the awards to the esteemed winners from the stage at Harris Theatre.

“Lerch Bates called Chicago home for the first half of its 75-year legacy and we’re still dedicated to the architecture community there today,” Rupe said. “One of our core values at Lerch Bates is community, and presenting the AIA Chicago People’s Choice Awards is an opportunity to live that with continued support of our architecture partners and the incredible projects they produce.”

The Lerch Bates People’s Choice Award finalists’ designs were chosen by Chicago Architecture Center’s Docents in a round one jury review from 127 projects submitted for the AIA Chicago’s Design Excellence Awards. The winners were chosen by the public in open voting from Sept. 5 through Sept. 18.

Civic

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER:
Navy Pier Flyover, Muller & Muller, Ltd (M2); Chicago Department of Transportation (Client), Chicago, IL

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FINALISTS:
Chicago O’Hare International Airport Terminal 5 Extension, Muller & Muller, Ltd (M2) and HOK; Chicago Department of Aviation, Commissioner Jamie Rhee (Client), Chicago, IL
CTA Quincy Elevated Station Renovation / Restoration, EXP; Chicago Transit Authority (Client), Chicago Department of Transportation (Owner), Chicago, IL
LaGuardia Airport Terminal B, HOK; LaGuardia Gateway Partners (Client), Queens, NY
University of Illinois Health, Specialty Care Building, Shive Hattery, Inc; University of Illinois Health (Client), Chicago, IL

Community and Cultural

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER:
Steppenwolf Theatre Campus Expansion, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture; Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Client), Chicago, IL

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FINALISTS:
Al Wasl Plaza, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture; Expo 2020 Dubai LLC (Client), Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Studio Gang, Design Architect and Architect of Record; Polk Stanley Wilcox, Associate Architect; Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (Client), Little Rock, AR
Ford Calumet Environmental Center, Valerio Dewalt Train; Chicago Park District (Client), Chicago, IL
Pepper Family Wildlife Center, Goettsch Partners; Lincoln Park Zoo (Client), Chicago, IL

Education

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Campus Instructional Facility, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Client), Urbana, IL

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FINALISTS:
IIT Mies Towers Renovation, Dirk Denison Architects; Illinois Institute of Technology (Client), Chicago, IL
Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory Building 201, CannonDesign; Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory (Client), Laurel, MD
Northwestern University Ryan Fieldhouse and Walter Athletics Center, Perkins&Will; Northwestern University (Client), Evanston, IL
University of Chicago Student Wellness Center, Wight & Company; University of Chicago (Client), Chicago, IL

Hospitality

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER:
Rockwell on the River, Rosen Architecture; Prairie Management & Development (Client), Chicago, IL

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FINALISTS:
125 High St. – Roof Terrace & Lounge, Krueck Sexton Partners; Tishman Speyer (Client), Boston, MA
345 North Morgan, Eckenhoff Saunders with Sterling Bay Design Studio; Sterling Bay (Client), Chicago, IL
Moxy Hotel Portland, DLR Group; Graves Hospitality (Client), Portland, OR
Viceroy Chicago, Goettsch Partners; Convexity Properties (Client), Chicago, IL

Multifamily Residential

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER:
Tribune Tower Conversion, Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB); Tribune Tower West, LLC (Client), Chicago, IL

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FINALISTS:
INTRO, Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture; Harbor Bay Ventures (Client), Cleveland, OH
Lucy Gonzalez Parsons Apartments, LBBA; Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation (Client), Chicago, IL
Peabody School Apartments, Pappageorge Haymes Partners; Svigos Asset Management (Client), Chicago, IL
Pullman Artspace Lofts, Stantec Architecture Inc.; Pullman Artspace LLC (Client), Chicago, IL

Office

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER:
Walgreens Old Post Office, Stantec Architecture Inc.; Walgreens Co. (Client), Chicago, IL

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FINALISTS:
SOM Chicago Studio Renovation, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Client), Chicago, IL
Kornberg Center, SmithGroup; Promega Corporation (Client), Fitchburg, WI
North Lawndale Employment Network, Wheeler Kearns Architects; North Lawndale Employment Network (Client), Chicago, IL
Uber – Chicago, Gensler; UberUber – Chicago (Client), Chicago, IL

Single Family Residential – New Construction

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER:
Solar House, Booth Hansen; Anonymous Client, Chicago, IL

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FINALISTS:
Casa Rosita, Via Chicago; Anonymous Client, Las Catalinas, Costa Rica
Chicago Residence, Wheeler Kearns Architects; Anonymous Client, Chicago, IL
Susan’s House, Mary English and Xavier Vendrell Architects; Susan English (Client), San Antonio, TX
The Brickyard, dSPACE Studio Architects; Anonymous Client, Chicago, IL

Single Family Residential – Renovation/Adaptive Reuse

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER:
Lakeside Midcentury, Robbins Architecture; Celeste Robbins (Client), Southwest Michigan

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FINALISTS:
Color Forward, DEW Design Company LLC; Anonymous Client, La Grange Park, IL
Unit 8408, Vladimir Radutny Architects; Anonymous Client, Chicago, IL
Wicker Park Courtyard House, 34-TEN; Anonymous Client, Chicago, IL
Yannell PHIUS+ Residence, HPZS; Yannell Foundation for Sustainable Development (Client), Chicago, IL

Tall Building

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER:
The St. Regis Chicago, Studio Gang, Design Architect; bKL Architecture, Architect of Record; Gensler, Hotel Architect; HBA, Interior Architect; Magellan Development Group (Client), Chicago, IL

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FINALISTS:
320 South Canal – Union Station, Goettsch Partners; Riverside Investment & Development, Convexity Properties (Clients), Chicago, IL
465 N. Park, Pappageorge Haymes Partners; Jupiter Realty Company / MetLife Investment Management (Clients), Chicago, IL
Cirrus and Cascade Chicago, bKL Architecture; Lendlease Development (Client), Chicago, IL
One Chicago, Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture and Goettsch Partners; JDL Development (Client), Chicago, IL

To see all the award winners from the 2023 Designight ceremonies, click here.