The Air Force Civil Engineer Center recently announced the winners of the 2020 Air Force Design Awards, recognizing seven innovative designs that embody the best in new construction, landscape architecture and facility renovations and additions.
"The award-winning projects set the benchmark of design excellence that the Air Force expects for all its facilities and installations," said Col. David Norton, director of AFCEC's Facility Engineering Directorate. "They demonstrate the Air Force's continued commitment to delivering quality, mission ready and resilient infrastructure."
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 the Citation Award.
The 2020 recipients are:
2020 Honor Awards
• Facility Renovations and Additions: Building 32 Renovation, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
• Landscape Architecture: Dyess Memorial Park, Dyess AFB, Texas
• Facility Design: U.S. Strategic Command, Command Image and Interior Design, Offutt AFB, Nebraska
• Facility Design: Flightline Fire Station, Edwards AFB, California
2020 Merit Awards
• Facility Design: Golf Course Clubhouse, Hill AFB, Utah
• Facility Design: Virtual Warfare Munitions Stimulator Facility, Eglin AFB, Florida
2020 Citation Award
• Facility Design: KC-46A Flight Training Center, Altus AFB, 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 AFB, 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," Lierly said. "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.
2020 Design Honor Award winner in the Facility Renovations and Additions category is Bldg. 32 renovation at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
2020 Design Honor Award in the Facility Design category is the Flightline Fire Station at Edwards AFB, California. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
2020 Design Honor Award in the Landscape Architecture category is the Dyess Memorial Park at Dyess AFB, Texas. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
2020 Design Honor Award in the Facility Design category is the U.S. Strategic Command, Command Image and Interior Design at Offutt AFB, Nebraska. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
2020 Design Merit Award winner in the Facility Design category is the Virtual Warfare Munitions Simulator Facility at Eglin AFB, Florida. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
2020 Design Merit Award in the Facility Design category is the Golf Course Clubhouse at Hill AFB, Utah. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
2020 Design Citation Award winner in Facility Design category is the KC-46A Flight Training Center at Altus AFB, Oklahoma. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
