• Bolingbrook High School: Durability was a premise for using Concrete Masonry. • Odyssey Elementary School: Concrete Masonry offered a sense of strength and durability. • North Salinas High School: Concrete Masonry plays a vital role in today’s school design and construction. • Academy School: Concrete Masonry weds the school to the mile-high earth. • School of the Future: The project presented an opportunity to rethink traditional designs.

• Award of Excellence - COMMERCIAL: Bishop Museum Science Adventure Center, Honolulu, Hawaii • Award of Excellence - RESIDENTIAL: The Downing Residence, Tucson, Arizona • Award of Excellence - LANDSCAPE: Art Alley, New Britain, Connecticut • Award of Honor - COMMERCIAL: Pima County Community College, Green Valley, Arizona • Award of Honor - RESIDENTIAL: Malibu 3, Malibu, California • Award of Honor - LANDSCAPE: South County Residence, Rhode Island

• Haw Creek Bike Path: The People Trail is a direct link to the architectural marvel of Columbus, Indiana, and the community it serves. • Hidden Strength ACBs have armored an earthen dam in Pennsylvania, making a recreational lake safe from erosion. • Deep Creek Lake: A segmental retaining wall built to control erosion makes a splash in scenic western Maryland.

• A Case Study in Raised Patio Construction – A Homeowners Perspective • Emerging Trend – Outdoor Living Spaces • Creative Alternatives for Traditional Landscaping

• Dances with Block: Mambo Palazzo is a Seattle architectural firm’s playfulness and love affair with concrete masonry. • No Stopping Them Now: A barrier-free home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, uses concrete masonry’s strength and versatility to leave the world far, far away.

• On the Cover: Handsome concrete masonry forms the rhythmic archways of PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Let's play ball! • Playing Fastball Constructed at the same time, the Pirates’s PNC Park and Steelers’s Heinz Field feature limestone-colored block to complement Pittsburgh’s historic downtown. • No. 1 Draft Pick Designers of Chicago’s revitalized Soldier Field employed two concrete masonry contractors—and up to 60 masons working simultaneously —to create the fastest built stadium in NFL history.

• On the Cover: Mason contractor John Born and his crew built his not-so-little house on the prairie, using CMU, because he wanted a solid, low maintenance home. The entire exterior of his home in Kechi, Kansas, is brick and stone veneer attached to structural concrete masonry walls. • Stressed Out: The homes in a Florida retirement community were built to withstand a 100-mph hurricane. Then a 160-mph tornado struck this past February. Some homes handled the stress better than others. • Prairie Palace: A humble mason built a mansion fit for none other than a king, but his own “royal” family gets to enjoy it.

• On the Cover: The Loop 375 overpass in El Paso, Texas, is constructed of concrete masonry segmental retaining walls. Here is one of five planters protruding from the walls, which displays a star symbolizing the Lone Star state. The other planters have a gecko and sun. • El Paso Overpass: In a booming Texas city, concrete masonry segmental retaining walls add color to a highway surrounded by scrub desert. • Retail with a View: Because production of concrete masonry units is so flexible, the designers of this upscale shopping center in Wisconsin could choose colors and textures that complemented the surroundings. • A Building Code to Remember: Current codes are in place to determine when the height of an SRW warrants a railing at the top.

• On the Cover: Concrete masonry helps break down the 55,000-square-foot (5,100-square-meter) mass of the Sonoma State University Recreation Center in Rohnert Park, California, by alternating bands of visually pleasing split-face and burnished concrete masonry units above the first-floor windows. • Solid Community Partner: Concrete masonry helps a San Diego senior center earn a prestigious Gold LEED rating. • Maximum Payoff, Minimum Time: Expert planning pays big dividends in an epic Maryland retirement community, situated north of Baltimore City. • Converting a Chicago Landmark: Using the newest innovations in concrete masonry, an 80-year-old historic retirement home in southeastern Chicago is transformed into a modern continuing-care facility. • Generational Values: Smart design using concrete masonry wins high praise for this urban retirement community.

• Smart and Good Looking: Sustainability and aesthetics are no sweat for concrete masonry at a northern California university’s new recreation center. • Stone Solid: Concrete masonry construction gives a church in Washington something old and something new. • Water World: The Mountain Park Aquatic Center and Activity Building’s reliance on damp-resistant concrete masonry ensures the Georgia facility retains its like-new appearance for years to come.

• Recreating a Historic Riverfront: In the early 1900s, power for the Minneapolis area flour mills was generated by water diverted from the Mississippi River. In Mill Ruins Park, the water-generated power system has recently been rebuilt—including modern segmental retaining walls— to simulate and showcase the original operation for residents and tourists. • Perfect Peninsulas: The owners of a cemetery in Houston, Texas, used an innovative plan to create more space within the property’s existing acreage. SRW units that blend in with the pre-existing structures were used to build two peninsulas. • Battling Wind and Water: When contractors from Franklin Outdoor Services were called upon to bid on a backyard project for a high-end, waterfront home in Lakeville, Minnesota, they soon realized the job would become an uphill battle. They solved the problem by terracing the yard with segmental retaining walls to create a multi-tiered patio with amazing lakeside views.

• On the Cover: The El Pueblo Senior Center in Tucson, Arizona was designed in three sections. The masonry for each section was stained a vibrant hue reminiscent of the surrounding desert scenery. • Connecting the Community: The El Pueblo Senior Center has become a favorite gathering spot for Tucson area residents of all ages, thanks to the beauty and cool environment the concrete masonry provides. • Building the Valley Recruit Training Facility: The new $15 million dollar Fire Department training facility in Van Nuys, California was built with concrete masonry in order to withstand brutal fire conditions over and over again. • Dino-mite! The Utah Field House of Natural: History relies on concrete masonry to make the museum as timeless as its inhabitants. • From Farming to Feng Shui: A western Pennsylvania town combines concrete masonry units and metal to build a new community center.