Predock of New Mexico has ties to Texas that include famed works in Dallas, Houston and El Paso as well as Austin's new city hall.

Antoine Predock, FAIA

Predock is 62nd AIA Gold Medalist

The Board of Directors of the AIA recently announced that Albuquerque, N.M.-based architect Antoine Predock, FAIA, is the recipient of the 2006 AIA Gold Medal.

The AIA Gold Medal is the highest honor the AIA confers on an architect. The medal honors an individual whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. The award will be presented this month at a gala at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

Predock is the 62nd AIA Gold Medalist, joining the ranks of visionaries such as Frank Lloyd Wright (1949), I.M. Pei (1979) and last year's recipient, Santiago Calatrava. Predock's name will be chiseled into the Wall of Honor in the AIA headquarters in Washington, DC.

The scale of Predock's work ranges from the famed Turtle Creek house, built in 1993 for bird enthusiasts along a prehistoric trail in Dallas, to a $285 million ballpark for the San Diego Padres that reinvents the concept of a stadium as a garden rather than a sports complex. His influence reaches international sites, including the new National Palace Museum in Taiwan. His integration of contemporary work in historical context can be seen at Stanford Universtiy and Rice University in Houston.

Predock's concentration of award-winning projects in the American West and throughout the United States are a testament to his ability to design highly contextual works.

His list of national awards includes the 2004 GSA Design Award for the U. S. Federal Courthouse, El Paso.

Predock attended architecture school at the University of New Mexico and graduated from Columbia University.

Peck Elected ABC N. Texas Chair

Chris Peck.

McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. recently announced that the firm's vice president, Chris Peck, has been elected as chair of the North Texas Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. for 2006.

"Chris has the focused drive and leadership ability to help this chapter provide even more value to the members it serves," said Toby Cummings, president/CEO of ABCNT. "I look forward to working closely with him over the next few years."

Peck has more than 19 years of experience in master planning, project and program management, project financing and business development. He is a licensed attorney and a certified urban planner. Since he joined McCarthy six years ago, the Texas division's annual volume has grown from $40 million to more than $200 million.

Peck serves on several industry boards and committees and is active with the Make-a-Wish Foundation and other local charities.

He has a doctor of jurisprudence from the South Texas College of Law in Houston and a bachelor's of arts degree in political science from Texas State University in San Marcos. He resides in McKinney.

AIA San Antonio Design Awards

The Aggie Bonfire Memorial, San Fernando Cathedral and the World Birding Center are among the winners of the 2005 AIA San Antonio Design Awards sponsored by the San Antonio chapter of the AIA.

In addition, chapter members recnetly honored the late architect Robert H.H. Hugman's original designs for the San Antonio River Walk with its first-ever 25-Year Award given for projects that have "stood the test of time."

Top honors went to Overland Partners for the Bonfire Memorial at Texas A&M University in College Station; Fisher-Heck Architects for its work on the restoration and renovation of San Fernando Cathedral (North America's oldest Catholic sanctuary) and the creation of the new Cathedral Center, both located in downtown San Antonio; and Lake/Flato Architects for the World Birding Center in the Bentsen Rio Grande State Park.

HCA Elects New Board Members

The Houston Contractors Association recently announced the winners of the HCA 2006 Board of Directors elections.

The HCA Board of Directors consists of thirteen positions, six of which were up for election this year. The new board members are: secretary/treasurer: E.L. "Peck" Boswell of BRH Garver Construction LP and director emeritus: W.B. "Buddy" Bean of Bean Construction LP. Four director positions went to: Buddy Barnes of Carter & Burgess Inc., Alicia Jimerson of Jimerson Underground Inc., Richard Peltier of Peltier Brothers Construction, and Jim Slack of Slack & Co. Contracting Inc.