CISC national steel awards go to four iconic structures

The Canadian Institute of Steel Construction announced its biennial National Steel Design Awards of Excellence during its Annual Conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland last week.

The awards are a culmination of a two year competition that brings together regional winners from across the country. They are given for a building, bridge, industrial or other steel work project in which engineering demands, architectural considerations or sustainability requirements influenced the designer’s choice of steel as the most appropriate structural solution.

Four distinctive projects won awards, three in Western Canada and one in Nova Scotia.

The award winners for 2014 are:

– Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg – engineering category.

Located at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, the museum’s iconic architectural forms resulted in significant structural complexity including large column free spaces, unconventional load paths, long cantilevers, and highly stressed connection points between steel forms and concrete walls. Structural steel was used to overcome numerous design and construction challenges for the architecturally complex museum superstructure.

Owner: Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Structural engineer: Yolles, A CH2M Hill Company

Architect: Smith Carter Architects/Antoine Predock Architect PC

Project manager / general contractor: PCL Winnipeg

Fabricator, detailer and erector: Walters Group.

– Capilano Cliffwalk, in the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, North Vancouver – architectural category.

The Cliffwalk allows people to access the face of a 90-metre high granite cliff on a labyrinth-like series of narrow steel cantilevered bridges, stairs and platforms through an old-growth West Coast rainforest. Each piece was custom designed and built through an intricate step-by-step process to minimize as much as possible its impact on the surrounding area.

Owner: Capilano Group of Companies

Structural engineer: Morrison Hershfield

Project manager / general contractor: Marc Luc Lalumière

Fabricator and detailer: Solid Rock Steel Fabricating Co.

Erector: Marc Luc Lalumière, Solid Rock Steel Fabricating Co.

– Nova Scotia Power Corporate Headquarters, Halifax – sustainability category.

Located on a prominent site on the waterfront in downtown Halifax, the building project involved the retention and adaptive reuse of a former power generating plant to become the headquarters for the provincial electrical utility. The building is the first in Atlantic Canada to achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification.

Owner: Nova Scotia Power Incorporated

Structural engineer: BMR Structural Engineering

Architect: WZMH

Fabricator and erector: Marid Industries

– Peace Bridge, Calgary

The Peace Bridge spanning the Bow River in Calgary has become a favorite with photographers since it opened in May 2012. The stunning structure is a pedestrian/cyclist bridge that connects the vibrant neighbourhoods of Sunnyside and Hillhurst to the city’s downtown core. The bridge structure is a sleek helix-shaped steel truss system developed over a semi-elliptical cross-section in a single span of 126 metres. Due to the challenging design criteria of a long span, wide bridge deck, and low structural depth, structural steel was chosen for its high strength-to-weight ratio.

Owner: City of Calgary

Structural engineer: Santiago Calatrava LLC/Stantec Consulting

Architect: Santiago Calatrava LLC

Project manager / general contractor: Graham Infrastructure

Erector: Norfab Mfg. (1993)

To see project profiles of the winning projects, click here.