Six steel structure designs take home top honors at the 2024 IDEAS² Awards

The results of this year’s Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (IDEAS²) Awards have been shared by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) as part of the competition’s 64th edition.

Each year, the AISC’s judges choose superlative examples of the use of structural steel in construction projects in order to highlight its advantages to architectural designers. Their particular deployment in the accomplishment of the structure's program, expression of architectural intent, application of “innovative design approaches,” and ability to leverage productivity-enhancing construction methods in the delivery of each project helped each to stand out among the jury’s finalists. A total of six projects were honored by the 2024 edition. The AISC says all equally promote advances in safety, benefits to the local community, and environmental consciousness in addition to their innovations in terms of structural engineering. 

“In previous years, the jury has considered projects in budget-based categories, but innovation comes in projects of all scales and sizes,” AISC Senior Vice President Scott Melnick explains. “This year’s jury set out to find the projects that take full advantage of the specific benefits like sustainability, cost, speed, reliability, and resilience that make structural steel the best choice for designers — and they succeeded.”

The winners will be featured in the May 2024 issue of Modern Steel Construction magazine. More information about each winning project can be viewed below.

NVIDIA Phase II - Voyager in Santa Clara, CA (cover image)
Architect: Gensler 
Structural engineer: IMEG

Description: "Complex geometry combines a lightweight canopy and transparent walls with an independent building to create an interior interstitial perimeter space that allows the glass walls to continue all the way down to the floor."

CITYPARK in St. Louis, MO
Architect and structural engineer: HOK 
Architect: Snow Kreilich Architects 
Associate structural engineer: David Mason + Associates

Jury comments: "A breathtakingly light structure gives soccer fans a thrilling game-day experience."

GEODIS Park in Nashville, TN
Architects: Populous, HASTINGS Architecture
Structural engineer: Walter P. Moore and Associates

Description: "Repeated signature steel elements bring the soccer stadium’s deceptively simple design to life--and will make any future renovations more economical and efficient."

Nashville International Airport Terminal Lobby and International Arrivals Facility Addition in Nashville, TN
Architects: Fentress Architects, TMPartners, Corgan Associates (BNA Vision Design Architect)
Prime structural engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates

Description: "Designers drew inspiration from a guitar to create the sweeping canopy that anchors a new terminal lobby and expanded international arrivals facility."

New York University, John A. Paulson Center in New York, NY
Architects: Davis Brody Bond, KieranTimberlake
Structural engineer: Severud Associates Consulting Engineers, PC

Description: "This remarkable structure takes full advantage of structural steel’s long-span potential, stacking residential towers atop high-volume athletic and performing arts facilities."

Pedestrian Bridge at the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Midtown in Atlanta, GA
Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), May Architecture
Structural engineer: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

Description: "An iterative design process led to a stripped-down design that uses as little material as possible--and the structural steel in question is locally sourced."