Do You Work in One of the 20 Most Elegant Federal Buildings?

Furthering a set of standards set by President Kennedy, the General Services Administration has joined with private-sector architects and designated the 20 best-designed federal buildings.

The GSA Design Awards, presented Wednesday at a ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, are presented every two years as part of the agency’s ongoing Design Excellence program set up to showcase star projects and raise the bar for investment in future federal buildings.

“We support the delivery of vital public services to the American people with buildings that are distinct and valued landmarks in their local communities,” said Norman Dong, the newly installed commissioner of GSA’s Public Buildings Service. “Our design efforts provide necessary tools to the nation’s federal workforce in high quality, cost-effective spaces that help agencies achieve their missions.”

The finalists were selected from 80 nominees judged by a jury of private-sector professionals chaired by architect Henry N. Cobb. The awards honor federal employees, architects, engineers, landscape architects, urban designers, interior designers, artists, conservationists and preservationists who work on federal facilities.

The envelope, please.

The following seven buildings were recognized for honors:

• U.S. Land Port of Entry, Van Buren, Maine
• Peace Arch Land Port of Entry, Blaine, Wash.
• Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, Portland, Ore.
• Jacob K. Javits Federal Building Plaza, New York, N.Y.
• Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C.
• United States Courthouse, Austin, Texas
• Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, New York, N.Y.

The following 13 were recognized with citations by categories:

• Interiors: Federal Center South Building 1202, Seattle, Wash.
• Architecture, Engineering, Landscape: Federal Office Building, Miramar, Fla.
• Architecture, Art Conservation, Interiors, Urbanism: 11 West Quincy Court, Chicago, Ill.
• Urbanism: 50 United Nations Plaza Federal Building, San Francisco, Calif.
• Architecture, Construction, Communication Design, Interiors, Urbanism: Dr. A.H. McCoy Federal Building, Jackson, Miss.
• Interiors: Federal Office Building, Andover, Mass.
• Construction Management: IRS Enterprise Computing Center, Kearneysville, W.Va.
• Art Conservation: Minton-Capehart Federal Building, Indianapolis, Ind.
• Architecture, Urbanism: John M. Roll United States Courthouse, Yuma, Ariz.
• Architecture, Construction, Urbanism: United States Courthouse, Bakersfield, Calif.
• Architecture, Art, Communication Design, Interiors, Urbanism: United States Courthouse Annex, San Diego, Calif.
• Architecture, Engineering, Interiors, Preservation: Wayne N. Aspinall Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, Grand Junction, Colo.