Thirteen buildings win in 2017 IDEAS² Steel-Frame Building Design awards

It's already that time of year when the American Institute of Steel Construction reveals the latest winning projects of their Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel awards, or IDEAS² for short. Established more than half a century ago, AISC hosts the competition to distinguish U.S. projects that demonstrate top-notch structural-steel construction design. The awards competition is also considered as one of the highest honors in the U.S. structural steel industry.

Out of nearly 100 submissions from firms across the country, 13 winners received National and Merit Awards in three categories, based on the project's total constructed value: Projects less than $15 million; Projects $15 million to $75 million; and Projects greater than $75 million. Four World Trade Center in New York won the Presidential Award of Excellence for outstanding engineering, while the Antony Gormley Sculpture Fabrication & Installation in Cambridge received jury recognition in outstanding sculpture.

Have a look at the projects below.

Presidential Award of Excellence in Engineering: Four World Trade Center, New York
Entering firm: Leslie E. Robertson Associates, New York

Jury recognition - Art Installation/Sculpture/Non-Building Structure: Antony Gormley Sculpture Fabrication & Installation, Cambridge, Mass.
Entering firm: Summit Metal Fabricators, Salem, N.H. (AISC member / AISC certified fabricator)

Projects Greater than $75 Million

National Award: Samsung Americas Headquarters (Device Solutions), San Jose, Calif.
Entering firm: Arup, Los Angeles

National Award: National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C.
Entering firm: Clark/Smoot/Russell A Joint Venture, Bethesda, Md.

Merit Award: Fulton Center, New York.
Entering firm: Arup, New York

Merit Award: Nippert Stadium West Pavilion, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Entering firm: THP Limited, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio

Projects $15 Million to $75 Million

National Award: Los Angeles Valley College Monarch Center, Valley Glen, Calif.
Entering firm: LPA, Inc., Irvine, Calif. 

National Award: Terminal East Infill at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Austin, Texas.
Entering firm: Architectural Engineers Collaborative, Austin, Texas 

Merit Award: Weber County Library Headquarters Branch, Roy, Utah.
Entering firm: ARW Engineers, Ogden, Utah

Merit Award: Southwest University Park, El Paso, Texas.
Entering firm: Walter P Moore, Austin, Texas

Projects Less than $15 Million

National Award: Pterodactyl office, Culver City, Calif.
Entering firm: NAST Enterprises Corp., Los Angeles

Merit Award: Chinatown Public Library, Chicago.
Entering firm: Drucker Zajdel Structural Engineers, Chicago 

Merit Award: Lamar Station Classroom for Urban Farming, Lakewood, Colo.
Entering firm: ColoradoBuildingWorkshop, Denver

The judging panel evaluated each submission's use of structural steel through an architectural and structural engineering perspective, with emphasis on multiple elements like creative solutions to the project's program requirements, innovative application of design approaches in gravity systems, lateral load resisting systems, fire protection; and aesthetics and visual impact, to name a few.

Check out previous winners in the links below.

Images courtesy of the 2017 IDEAS2 competition.