Title: Design Award of Excellence Goes to Minnesota Home Word Count: 236 Summary: The prestigious Residential Design Award of Excellence for 2004 has been given to a home built in Hugo, Minn. The competition, sponsored annually by the National Concrete Masonry Association, recognizes excellence in projects featuring the use of concrete masonry to build quality homes. Keywords: Design Award of Excellence Goes to Minnesota Home Article Body: The prestigious Residential Design Award of Excellence for 2004 has been given to a home built in Hugo, Minn. The competition, sponsored annually by the National Concrete Masonry Association, recognizes excellence in projects featuring the use of concrete masonry to build quality homes. The winning residence was designed by Villa Architects and is home to the Wagner family. Materials for construction were supplied by Willow Creek Concrete Products Inc. DC Landscaping performed the installation. The home features a distinctive and elegant entryway, with a raised concrete paver patio and partition wall supporting an elegant trellis. This inviting entryway provides usable space for traffic flow and outdoor lounging. An independent panel of distinguished architects and landscape architect professionals chose the home out of more than 75 entries from across North America. "Our Design Awards of Excellence program helps not only to promote quality homes, but also to showcase the innovative and exciting ways that concrete masonry can be used in building attractive, sustainable structures that promote societal and environmental advancement," said Mark B. Hogan, president of the NCMA. The winners of this award are featured in a special issue of "Concrete Masonry Designs" magazine. "Architects, engineers and landscape architects all realize the value associated with the exposure gained from the promotion and publication of excellent examples of innovative and relevant award-winning designs," said Marsha Lea, a principal with EDAW Inc. who served as a member of the jury panel.