2012 Hammurabi Awards

Recognizing designers and contractors who strive for excellence

By Carl Lee

University of Portland, Bell Tower - 2012 Hammurabi Excellence Award

February 9, 2012, the Masonry and Ceramic Tile Institute held their biannual Hammurabi Awards luncheon in the Heritage Banquet Room at the Governor Hotel in downtown Portland.

The Hammurabi Awards, originating in 1971, brings well-deserved recognition to are designers and contractors who strive for excellence in the use of masonry. Display panels and project presentations of all the entires were available for the guests to review.

The guests were also treated to a presentation, the subject being the use of fly ash to replaced portions of cement in grout, to creating a greener product. The presenter Kurt Siggard PE, and the Executive Director of the Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada has been at the forefront of this research.

Awards were given out to the architects, engineers, owners, general contractors, mason contractors and their foreman, for excellence, honor and merit recipients. The Awards committee consisting of three area architects, Joseph Van Lom, Kathy Dietrich and Randy Nishimura, were also on hand.

Recipients included:

Excellence Award

University of Portland, Bell Tower

Honor Awards

Keizer City Hall and Police Facility
Oregon State Hospital, Kirkbride Building
Saint Francis of Assisi Church

Merit Awards

Music and Science Building, Hood River Middle School
Verene A. Duncan Elementary School
Ramona Apartments
Oxford Hotel - Bend

The judges could not decide between which of the awarded CMU projects would be named top block project, so they Northwest Concrete Masonry Association will send both the Kaiser City Hall and the St. Francis of Assisi projects to the national competition.