MATT Construction Honored at the LABC Architectural Awards

MATT Construction was recognized at the 45th Annual Los Angeles Architectural Awards last week during a gala luncheon hosted by the Los Angeles Business Council. More than 40 world-class projects from a diverse spectrum of the architectural field were celebrated at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for their design excellence and community impact.

MATT took home awards for its 8th & Hope Residential Tower project, designed by Preston Partnership and Gensler, and for its historic preservation of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, by architect, Brenda Levin.

Featuring an engaging keynote address by world-renowned architect Shigeru Ban, winner of the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the annual event drew a crowd of approximately 600 of the region’s leading architects, designers, building professionals and media. Entire project teams – including building owners, designers, contractors and developers – were honored for their contributions to exceptional design in L.A. County and beyond.

“The L.A. Architectural Awards are an opportunity for us to recognize and celebrate outstanding projects that marry excellent design with meaningful sustainability,” said Los Angeles Business Council President Mary Leslie. “Today’s winning projects exemplify the entrepreneurial, innovative spirit that makes Los Angeles unique.”

A distinguished jury of owners, contractors, architects and civic leaders selected this year’s winners from hundreds of submissions. The Grand Prize went to the project team behind the restoration of the iconic, Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, LADWP Director of Economic Development Kecia Washington and Haworth Director of Business Development Ron Frantz honored the winners of a new competition—the LADWP Community Impact Award Landscape Design Competition— which recognized projects for outstanding innovation in environmentally conscious and water conserving landscape architecture.

For the fourth year in a row, the Architectural Awards featured a design contest among students at the top six architecture schools in Los Angeles County, in this case participating in an intensive two-week competition to develop a vision and design for the South Wetland Park Facility. A video about the 2015 Julius Shulman Emerging Talent Award student design competition is available at the LA Business Council’s website, www.labusinesscouncil.org.