by Shane Henson — December 14, 2011—The annual WFX Awards, presented during the recent WFX Worship Facilities Conference and Expo in Texas, honored excellence in design, construction, installation, sustainability, and maintenance and operations of worship facilities, as well as outstanding products and technology in the areas of building materials, building systems, green products, audio, video, lighting and new media.
There were three different awards given during the WFX Awards—the 2011 Solomon Awards, New Product Awards Technology, and New Product Awards Facility—and each award had a host of categories.
The Solomon Awards are considered the leading annual national awards recognizing church building design across the full spectrum of church sizes and styles. Categories included Best Church Design New Project with 2,001+ seats (Winner: Watermark Community Church), Best Church Design Expansion with 1-800 seats, (Winner: Building D at Austin Ridge Bible Church), and Best Church Design Renovation with 1-800 seats (Winner: Stapleton Fellowship Church by Visioneering Studios).
The New Product Facility Awards program is reportedly the only awards program recognizing advances in new construction, equipment or maintenance products specific to the house of worship market. Products are recognized for their application and benefit to the house of worship market. Categories included Best Design, Installation and Operation of an Audio, Video and Lighting System with 1-800 seats (Winner: Laguna Presbyterian Church by Meyer Sound Laboratories), and Best Green Initiative (Winner: Worship Center at Christ United Methodist Church by HH Architects).
The New Product Technology Awards are considered the most comprehensive audio, video, lighting and new media product awards in the house of worship market. These products are recognized for their innovation and application for churches of all sizes and styles. Categories included Amplifier (Winner: Powersoft Ottocanali 1204 by Powersoft), In-ear Monitoring System (Winner: PSM1000 System by Shure Inc.), Digital Mixing Console (Winner: Roland M-480 Digital Console by Roland Systems Group), and Large-Format Loudspeaker (Winner: Bose RoomMatch Loudspeakers by Bose Corp.).
