Four university projects are among 11 recipients of American Institute of Architects Honor Awards for 2007. The awards, announced today, are among architecture’s most prestigious.

The higher-education projects — two new buildings, one addition, and a plant for boilers and chillers — were among eight facilities at schools or colleges selected for awards. A nine-member jury selected winning buildings from among nearly 700 submissions.

The four university projects are: The University of Arizona’s Meinel Building expansion, which added 47,000 square feet for the College of Optical Sciences. The $17.2-million addition was designed by Richärd + Bauer.

The University of California at Merced’s Central Plant, comprising a three-story plant building housing boilers and chillers, a telecommunications building, and a storage tank that lets the university run its chillers when energy costs are low and bank the resulting cold water to be used for peak-period air conditioning.

The University of Iowa’s Art Building West (above), which cantilevers out over a quarry pond. The $16-million building, designed by Steven Holl Architects and Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck Architecture, added 69,000 square feet of space for art and art-history programs. (Photo by Facilities Management, University of Iowa.)

The University of Michigan’s Biomedical Science Research Building, a $187-million structure with 240 research labs intended for nearly 1,000 users. It was designed by Polshek Partnership Architects.