Not only is Target Field Station a central connection point for Twin Cities commuters, it's now an award-winning facility.

The Station is one of four to earn a 2015 American Institute of Architects Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design.

Opened in June, the 104,000 square-foot station serves more than 500 light-rail and Northstar Commuter trains each day. It also serves several bus routes and the Cedar Lake bicycle trail. Two more proposed light-rail lines also will serve the station if they are built.

Designed by Peter Cavaluzzi and Perkins Eastman and built by Knutson Construction at a cost of $79.3 million, the station is easily recognized by its swooping canopy over the tracks at 5th Street and 5th Avenue N. The space also features a lawn and 1,000-seat amphitheater where people can gather to watch concerts or Twins games and other events broadcast on a large video screen.

"This is a powerful piece of work, illustrating how a transit point can become more than a transit station," the five-member jury deciding the awards said. "It knits together a rather disparate area and really makes transit available right where it is needed."

The AIA will present the award during its annual conference this spring in Atlanta.