Project teams across the country continue to push the boundaries with structural steel. This year, there are six projects that you need to know about.
They’re this year’s winners of the structural steel industry’s highest design honor: the Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (or IDEAS²) Awards, presented by the American Institute of Steel Construction.
“In previous years, the jury has considered projects in budget-based categories, but innovation comes in projects of all scales and sizes,” said AISC Senior Vice President Scott Melnick. “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.”
Here are the 2024 IDEAS² Award winners, in alphabetical order. More information about all of the 2024 winners is available at aisc.org/ideas2. Press photos are available here; please note that the file names include photo credit information.
IDEAS² AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ARCHITECTURE
CITYPARK, St. Louis. A breathtakingly light structure gives soccer fans a thrilling game-day experience.
Owner: St. Louis City SC, St. Louis
General contractor: Mortenson | Alberici | Keeley (MAK JV), St. Louis
Architect and structural engineer: HOK, St. Louis
Architect: Snow Kreilich Architects, Minneapolis
Associate structural engineer: David Mason + Associates, St. Louis
Fabricator: Hillsdale Fabricators, St. Louis *AISC full member; AISC-Certified fabricator*
NVIDIA Phase II – Voyager, Santa Clara, Calif. 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.
Owner’s representative: NVIDIA, Santa Clara, Calif.
General contractor: Devcon Construction, Inc., Milpitas, Calif.
Architect: Gensler, San Francisco
Structural engineer: IMEG, San Francisco
Steel team:
- Fabricator and erector: SME, West Jordan, Utah *AISC full member; AISC-Certified fabricator and erector*
- Detailer: DBM Vircon, Auckland, New Zealand *AISC associate member*
IDEAS² AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN CONSTRUCTABILITY
GEODIS Park, Nashville. Repeated signature steel elements bring the soccer stadium’s deceptively simple design to life–and will make any future renovations more economical and efficient.
Owner: Nashville Sports Authority, Nashville
Owner’s representative: CAA ICON, Denver
General contractor: Mortenson | Messer Construction Co., Nashville
Architects: Populous, Kansas City, Mo.; HASTINGS Architecture, Nashville
Structural engineer: Walter P. Moore and Associates, Inc., Kansas City, Mo.
Steel team:
- Fabricator: LeJeune Steel, Minneapolis *AISC full member; AISC-Certified fabricator*
- Erector: LPR Construction, Loveland, Colo. *AISC associate member; AISC-Certified erector*
- Detailer: DBM Vircon, Tempe, Ariz. *AISC associate member*
IDEAS² AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ENGINEERING
Nashville International Airport Terminal Lobby and International Arrivals Facility Addition. Designers drew inspiration from a guitar to create the sweeping canopy that anchors a new terminal lobby and expanded international arrivals facility.
Owner: Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, Nashville
General contractor: Hensel Phelps, Nashville
Architects: Fentress Architects, Denver; TMPartners, Brentwood, Tenn.; Corgan Associates, Dallas (BNA Vision Design Architect)
Prime structural engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Seattle
Foundation engineer: Logan Patri Engineering, Inc., Nashville
Steel team:
- Fabricators:
- Banker Steel, Lynchburg, Va. *AISC full member; AISC-Certified fabricator*
- Irwin Steel LLC, Justin, Texas *AISC full member; AISC-Certified fabricator*
- TrueNorth Steel, Lubbock, Texas *AISC full member; AISC-Certified fabricator*
- Erector: Schuff Steel Company, Euless, Texas *AISC full member; AISC-Certified fabricator and erector*
- Bender/roller: Chicago Metal Rolled Products, Chicago *AISC associate member*
New York University’s John A. Paulson Center. This remarkable structure takes full advantage of structural steel’s long-span potential, stacking residential towers atop high-volume athletic and performing arts facilities.
Owner: New York University, New York
General contractor: Turner Construction Company, New York
Architects: Davis Brody Bond, New York; KieranTimberlake, Philadelphia
Structural engineer: Severud Associates Consulting Engineers, PC, New York
Fabricator and erector: W&W | AFCO Steel, Oklahoma City *AISC full member; AISC-Certified fabricator and erector*
IDEAS² AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Pedestrian bridge at the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Midtown, Atlanta. 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.
Owner: Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta
Owner’s representatives: Turner & Townsend Healthcare, Atlanta
General contractor: Batson-Cook Construction, Atlanta
Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), New York; May Architecture, Atlanta
Structural engineer: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), New York
IDEAS² AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ADAPTIVE REUSE
AISC will not present an award in this category this year, but fully half of the 2023 IDEAS² Awards went to outstanding adaptive reuse projects. Visit aisc.org/ideas2 to learn more about how new structural steel and innovative thinking have extended the service lives of old buildings from coast to coast.
2024 IDEAS² JURY
AISC would like to thank this year’s judges for their time and dedication:
- Eddie Jones, FAIA, founding principal, Jones Studio
- Max Puchtel, SE, PE, LEED Green Associate, director of government relations and sustainability, AISC
- Larry Rickels, PE, principal, Datum Engineers
- Brian C. Smith, vice president, Doing Steel Fabrication
- Jay A. Taylor, PE, SE, Hon AIA Sea, senior principal (retired), MKA
- Hannah Valentine, PE, structural steel specialist – Los Angeles, AISC
