The Building Industry Association of Hawaii honored achievements at the 26th annual Renaissance Building & Remodeling Awards ceremony Wednesday in the Monarch Room at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

"The Renaissance Building & Remodeling Awards showcases excellence in design and construction of what is happening now, with the new technologies and new products that are coming out," said Karen Nakamura, executive vice president and CEO. The organization singles out the industry’s best "so that we can educate our consumers … to take advantage of the benefits that these buildings and these designs will bring to the quality of life of the people of Hawaii."

Projects are cited in categories including new and remodeled residential, kitchen and bath, commercial, landscape, public works and historical projects. Overall Grand Awards and Grand Division Awards are presented in those numerous categories, with some categories divided by square footage totals or by dollar values.

Hawaii Architecture LLP was a Grand Design Award and Overall Grand Award winner in the Hawaii-built green and commercial remodel categories for a project titled "Bishop Street Tenant Improvement."

Armstrong Builders LLC also won a Grand Division Award and Overall Grand Award for the Monkeypod Kitchen restaurant on Maui — by chef and restaurateur Peter Merriman — in the New Commercial Construction category for a project between 5,001 and 7,500 square feet.

Marc Taron of Arquitectura LLC won a Grand Division Award and an Overall Grand Award for the Murray Residence, entered in the new residential category, a project valued at more than $2 million.

The winner of the Grand Division Award and Overall Grand Award for residential remodeling of more than $500,000 was Lively Architects & Complete Construction Services Corp., for its Hale Ala Honu project.

Mokulua Woodworking Ltd. won the Grand Division Award for its historical remodeling of a residence, a project that also won the Carl Reppun Award, which is annually presented to a small firm for excellence in residential work.

Unlike with many local trade organizations’ awards, which are selected by judges from mainland chapters, the BIA-Hawaii Renaissance awards are judged locally.

Local professionals are asked to judge "because there are so many differences sometimes in design considerations and in materials used, based on our tropical location," Nakamura said. BIA-Hawaii once brought in a mainland judge for a Parade of Homes competition, "and it was challenging for our builders to try to explain or show the benefits" of the materials and design solutions that were chosen. Hawaii projects don’t have to be built for tornadoes or with central heating, for instance, "so we don’t overengineer because our cost of construction is already so high."

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