A few architectural trends emerged as Michael Wilkinson and his two fellow jury members met to discuss the 45 submissions for the 2014 AIA Columbus design awards, which were presented during a ceremony last night.

“A definite trend is that several of the submissions were renovations, or the ‘re-skinning,’ of existing buildings that needed to be upgraded and made more appealing,” he said.

Another was that numerous projects were aimed at generating “community engagement” in struggling neighborhoods, with a goal of furthering the revitalization of those areas, he said.

These were evident in the two projects that received top honors — honor awards — from the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects: the new John R. Maloney Family Health and Wellness Center on the South Side, by the DesignGroup; and the renovation of Hopkins Hall on the campus of Ohio State University, by Braun & Steidl Architects.

Wilkinson, who leads Chicago-based Wilkinson Design Group, was joined on the jury by two other Windy City architects: Mark Sexton of Krueck & Sexton and Catherine Baker of Landon Bone Baker.

They said they were impressed by the quality of the projects submitted by Columbus architects. Some of those projects were constructed here but several were built in other cities across the country and internationally.

“Although there’s less overall activity in Columbus than in Chicago, the better projects we received had the same sensitivities as some of the better work we see in Chicago,” Wilkinson said. “We were encouraged by what we saw.”