ST. LOUIS – Gray Design Group Principal and design-build veteran Larry Milles received a Distinguished Leadership Award from the Design-Build Institute of America Mid-America Region in recognition of distinguished leadership in championing design-build, supporting the region and developing future leaders. 

Milles was one of three winners of the first-ever Distinguished Leadership Awards, which were announced at DBIA-MAR’s Annual Awards Banquet on Dec. 2 in Overland Park, Kan. Milles was the only St. Louis-based winner. 

“It is truly an honor to be recognized for my role in promoting and supporting this methodology that I’ve become so passionate about,” said Milles. “Design-build allows for a team of professionals to come together at the onset of the project, which is beneficial on so many levels. When the entire team is committed to a singular goal of producing the best possible product, everyone wins, particularly ownership.” 

With more than 30 years of experience and 500-plus successful projects under his belt, Milles is widely known as the “go-to-guy” for the design-build process. Milles is licensed to practice in 20 states, recently working on the mixed-use facility Schattdecor, which merges industrial and high-end office space under one roof in Maryland Heights, Mo. Milles has been principal and design-team leader on numerous high-profile projects, including the 100,000-square-foot APC/Schneider Electric in O’Fallon, Mo., 300,000-square-foot Troy Concept Center in Detroit, West Springs Church in Ballwin, Mo., Tetra Plastics in Missouri Research Park and Park Place in Clayton, Mo.