t Alaska Business Publishing Co., we like architects and engineers. On a certain level it’s selfish: whenever we reach out to architecture and engineering firms and specialists in Alaska to be sources for our articles, there are always a handful who respond in a timely and organized way. Once we get them into an interview, they are happy to provide details about projects, explain terms and concepts, and share their expertise—and their super cool concept art.

And on another level… it’s also selfish, as they design the world around us, from the computers we work on to the office buildings and homes we live in and the bridges we drive over to get back and forth between the two. Sometimes the projects we report on seem far away—and certainly, 800 miles is nothing to sneeze at—but even those far-off pipelines and ice pads directly affect our lives through the economy they support.

So it is with a smile (and a highly engineered keyboard) that we are again using our February issue to celebrate architecture and engineering, both in this special section and in tangential content throughout.

Within the special section itself, we’re once again pleased to present short bios on the Engineer of the Year and the Engineering Excellence project of the year award nominees for Anchorage; the winners will be announced at the 2022 EWeek Banquet on Saturday, February 26.

We also have an incredible piece by guest author Peter Briggs, founder and owner of Corvus Design, a full-spectrum landscape architecture, planning, and industrial design firm that has the mission to “craft meaningful people-based places.”

The rest of the special section is rounded out with a look at HVAC needs for marijuana-based businesses, engineering for 100-year events (and unexpected trucks), planning for indoor green spaces, a look at the differences between architecture and engineering, and our cover story, which dives deep into the redesign of 601 W. Fifth Avenue, formerly the KeyBank Plaza.

Whether you’re reading this on a phone or holding a print magazine in your hand, take a second to appreciate the decades of architecture and engineering that have “reimagined the possible,” allowing us to live in a safer, more beautiful, and highly functional world.