American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) is looking for steel-framed building projects to compete in its 2015 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (IDEAS2) Awards program. For more than a half-century, these annual prizes have honored outstanding achievement in engineering and architecture on structural steel projects across the United States.
There are National and Merit award-winners in three categories, based on constructed value—less than $15 million, $15 million to $75 million, and greater than $75 million. (Occasionally, a Presidential Award of Excellence in Engineering is bestowed at the judges’ discretion.) In reaching a decision, the judges emphasize creative solutions, visual impact, and applications of innovative approaches in areas such as connections, gravity systems, lateral load-resisting systems, fire protection, and blast.
Projects selected for recognition will be announced at next year’s North American Steel Construction Conference (NASCC), taking place in Nashville, Tennessee in March; awards are then presented by AISC to the submitting firms and their fellow project team members at the individual project sites during the year.
To be eligible, projects must have completion dates between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014. A significant portion of the framing system of the building project must be wide-flange or hollow structural steel sections (HSS). Pedestrian bridges entered in the competition must be an intrinsic part of a building and not standalone structures. For more information, visit www.aisc.org/ideas2. Entry deadline is December 1.
