Using a hybrid in-person and virtual format, three “Worthy Finalist” teams competed in the presentations round before a remote audience and five judges to vie for top honors in the 2021 CIRT National Design & Construction Competition. The competition was part of the Construction Industry Round Table’s (CIRT) spring conference held in downtown Washington, D.C. The three finalist teams had survived the unprecedented uncertainties and challenges of the pandemic and shutdowns, in addition to a grueling preliminary round that included 27 entries, from 18 ACE Mentor Program of America Affiliates. All the teams in the final round hailed from ACE Affiliates that had never before gotten to the presentation stage. In the end, ACE Mentor Program of Southern Nevada/Las Vegas, Maverick Design Team emerged to take home top honors as National Champions in the fifteenth annual CIRT competition. They did so, by winning favor with a distinguished panel of judges headed by Wassim A. Selman, CIRT Chairman (ARCADIS), that included: Greg Cosko (Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction); Dave Mahoney, (Dewberry); Michael Choutka (Hensel Phelps); and Jenni Mushynski (formerly with Chicago Architecture Center).

The order of finish for the competition was:

• First Place and a prize of $5,000 went to: ACE Mentor Program of Southern Nevada/Las Vegas, Maverick Design Team for their Manufacturing Center/Zone; 
• Second Place and a prize of $3,000 went to: ACE Mentor Program of Western Michigan for their Homeless Shelter entry; and
• Third Place and a prize of $2,000 went to: ACE Mentor Program of Greater Milwaukee for their Retrofit School entry.

After carefully analyzing the presentations as well as the underlying entry’s design/construction approaches within the project’s objectives, the five judge panel balanced the outcome on the basis of the two major elements: quality of presentation and competence of the overall entry. The winning team’s solution exhibited a very strong responsiveness to the criteria of the manufacturing center challenge, by incorporating major elements in their proposal/response, such as: (i) advantageous site selection, (ii) use of intra-modal forms of transportation and networks, in addition to (iii) use of flexible storage and office space to meet various client needs and functionality. Realistic detailed cost estimates as well as construction work flow and calendars were also provided to complete the entry.  

Seven other teams were also recognized in the 2021 competition as either First Runner-Up ($1,000 prize) or Second Runner-Up ($500 prize) in each of the three different design challenges or options. Among this elite group were:

Manufacturing Center/Zone Challenge (out of 5 entries): 1^st Runner-Up: ACE Mentor of Greater Washington Metro Area/McKinley Tech Team;  2nd Runner-Up: ACE of Northeast Florida/Creekside H.S. Team;
Retrofit a School Challenge (out of 6 entries): 1^st Runner-Up: ACE Mentor of Greater NY/Team 15;  2nd Runner-Up: ACE Mentor of Greater Omaha;
Homeless Shelter Challenge (out of 16 entries): 1^st Runner-Up: ACE Mentor of Southern Nevada/Las Vegas, Desert Design Team; two teams tied for 2nd Runner-Up between: ACE Mentor Program of Greater NY/The Hive Team and ACE Mentor Program of Hawaii/Team Trace.

The CIRT National Design & Construction Competition is a collaborative effort with the ACE Mentor Program of America and the Chicago Architecture Center. [To watch the recorded copy of the Final Presentation round go to the following link and see JUNE 7, 2021 video]:  RECORDINGS | Cirt Spring (cirt2021spring.com)