City of Boise Announces 2018 Building Excellence Award Winners

This year, the city recognized the following projects for excellence in architecture, sustainability, safety and accessibility:

Excellence in Fire-Life Safety and Accessibility
Cutting Edge Kitchens (5032 W. State Street) – Cutting Edge Kitchens repurposed an existing automotive performance facility into a more public-friendly home improvement retail store and granite countertop center. To bring the building up to current code standards, the building and entire site had to be upgraded to current fire and accessibility standards.

Excellence in Sustainability
The Fowler (505 W. Broad Street) – Located in Boise’s Central Addition, the Fowler is a new 204,000 square foot multi-family apartment building. The Fowler now houses 159 apartments, including five live/work units along 5th Street. The building’s amenities include a roof terrace, community room, fitness center, business center, bike storage and a dog-washing station. On the ground floor, a restaurant and coffee shop activate Broad Street from morning to night.

Mayor’s Choice Award
Gem Center for the Arts (2417 W. Bank Drive) - Boise’s newest visual and performing arts facility is located in the core of the Vista neighborhood. The project is being honored for its adaptive re-use of a historic building. The new arts organization officially moved into the building and began offering programs in February of 2018. The facility’s programming includes visual and performing arts classes, artist studio spaces, arts exhibits, small theater performances, workshops and lectures.

Excellence in Design
The Watercooler (1401 W. Idaho) - The Watercooler is a mixed-used live/work building located at the west edge of downtown Boise. Measuring 24,500 square feet on three floors, the building is located at the corner of 14th and Idaho Street. At the street corner, the Watercooler steps back to create a semi-public park. Seven live/work units and a corner retail space comprise the ground floor, while the remaining 30 residential units are above.

Best Overall
JUMP (1000 W. Myrtle) – Jack’s Urban Meeting Place, or JUMP, is a non-profit, interactive creative center and community gathering place. The Simplot family created the six-story, 285,000 square-foot building as a place for everyone to discover new possibilities and explore their potential. A nearly three-acre urban park, stretching between JUMP and the new Simplot Corporate world headquarters, provides multiple areas dedicated to community gatherings and events including an amphitheater, spacious lawn, water feature, Jumpotron screen, a five-story spiral slide and the Pioneer Pathway, which bisects the park and acts a Greenbelt extension leading to the Downtown core.

About the City of Boise: Our vision is to make Boise the most livable city in the country by fostering vibrant communities, innovative enterprises and lasting environments on behalf of our nearly 225,000 residents. Visit cityofboise.org to learn more.

About Mayor David H. Bieter: David H. Bieter was elected the 54th mayor of Boise in 2003, fulfilling a dream he's had since he was a boy growing up in the city's North End. Now serving his fourth four-year term, Mayor Bieter is Boise’s longest serving mayor in the city’s 150-year history.