With modernism dominating and projects such as the Skybridge condominium high-rise in Chicago and the Crate & Barrel headquarters in Northbrook at the head of the list, two architects will grab most of the top honors when the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects hands out its annual design excellence awards Friday night. The two architects are Ralph Johnson of Perkins & Will, who designed Skybridge and Crate & Barrel, and Andrew Metter of Annex 5 Architects, part of the Epstein Design Group, whose award-winners are two suburban projects -- a sleek, shiplike office building in Hoffman Estates and (no kidding) a subtle, wonderfully detailed renovation of a factory facade in Schaumburg. Helmut Jahn will also win top honors for a German office building, as will the firm of Legat Architects for a science addition to Highland Park High School. A total of 32 projects will be recognized when the awards are presented in the Grand Ballroom at Chicago's Navy Pier. Jurors selected the winners from a field of more than 250 entries in three categories -- distinguished building, interior architecture and "divine detail," which recognizes a specific architectural element. Quality residential high-rise By selecting Skybridge for an honor award in the distinguished building category, the jury made a strong statement to Chicago's real estate developers: High-quality design is possible in residential high-rises, in contrast to the graceless hulks that have risen in downtown Chicago during the recent building boom. Located at 1 N. Halsted St., the 39-story Skybridge is a single structure that sports a 25-story void between two exposed concrete towers and is capped by a trellislike bridge of steel. Besides making a powerful skyline statement, it has a four-story retail base that relates well to its Greektown neighborhood. Johnson's Crate & Barrel Headquarters, a low-slung, white-brick structure that seems to cruise through the suburban landscape like a steamship, won praise from jurors for bringing the modernist aesthetic of the company's Michigan Avenue flagship to the often- bland category of suburban office buildings. Metter also livened up that type with his site-sensitive North American headquarters for Renishaw Inc., an English company that makes precision measuring devices. Design with dignity, elegance But the jury really was taken with his renovation of a factory building in Schaumburg. The job brings dignity and even elegance to that often-ignored building type by adding a rock garden, a glassy entrance pavilion and metal panels that enliven the building's walls with shadow patterns and a sense of depth. " The composition is so beautiful it borders on art," one juror said. Other honor awards will be presented to Jahn's 41-story, glass- sheathed Deutsche Post office tower in Bonn, which has a towering atrium crossed by skybridges, and Legat Architects' Highland Park High School science addition, a modern but respectful addition to the North Shore suburb. Receiving the next highest honor in the distinguished building category, a Citation of Merit, will be: Jahn's Bayer W11, an office building in Leverkusen, Germany; Churchill Row, Chicago townhouses by Hirsch Associates; Cloud Chaser, a desert house in Scottsdale, Ariz., by David Hovey; the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville, by Architectureisfunand architect-of-record Nagle Hartray Danker Kagan McKay Architects Planners; the Farm-in-the-Zoo at the Lincoln Park Zoo, by InterActive Design; and the Jubilee Family Resource Center in Chicago, by Ross Barney + Jankowski Inc.. Other Citation of Merit winners will be: the King of Prussia Store in King of Prussia, Penn., by Crate & Barrel's architectural staff; the McCormick Theological Seminary building in Chicago, by M+W Zander; a house in Galien, Mich., by Wheeler Kearns Architects; the Racine Art Museum by Brininstool + Lynch; and the Rambler Lofts in Chicago, by Margaret Ann Temple-Architect. Two projects are receiving special recognition awards in the distinguished building category -- the restoration of the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool pavilions and entry gate, by Eifler & Associates, and the exterior restoration of the Medinah Temple, part of its transformation into a Bloomingdale's Home and Furniture Store, by Daniel P. Coffey & Associates. Brininstool + Lynch's Racine Art Museum will be one of three interior architecture honor award winners, while the renovation of the Emanuel Congregation sanctuary in Chicago by Ross Barney + Jankowski will be one of three projects honored with a divine detail award.