Striking engineering shows up in B.C. Steel Awards

The Canadian Institute of Steel Construction BC Regional Steel Design Awards of Excellence in Vancouver honoured five projects and one individual.

Three of the projects, which were presented November 19, will be seen around the world when the Winter Olympics open in Vancouver and Whistler next month.

An Award of Excellence in the Engineering category went to the Richmond Speed Skating Oval. The spectacular structure’s roof arches are the longest spanning hybrid steel wood arches in the world, spanning 100 metres. The winning team included structural engineers Fast + Epp and architect Cannon Design.

The Vancouver Convention Centre West won the CISC Krentz Award. It will be the media centre for the Winter Olympics and is located in a prominent site on the waterfront. The design team included structural engineers Glotman Simpson, and architects LMN, Musson Cattell Mackey, and DA (See CCE August-September, and October-November 2009).

An award of excellence in the Architectural category went to the Robson Square Domes. These new elliptical stainless steel structures replace the circular domes over the plaza and extended ice rink in the heart of downtown Vancouver. The team included structural engineers Read Jones Christoffersen and architects Hughes Condon Marler and Clive Grout.

The most unusual project to receive an award is not in Vancouver, but in Alberta. Winner of an award of excellence in the Sustainability category was the Canron Aisle 6 Re-use project. The one remaining aisle of a pre-engineered building plant stood on Vancouver’s False Creek for 15 years before it was dismantled and shipped to Edmonton for reuse in a new Acheson Plant. The main structural members as well as the original crane girders, 20-ton hoists and crane were reused. The team included Canron Western Constructors (a Supreme Group Company), Janto Engineering and Supreme Steel.

An Award of Merit in the Architectural category went to the Central Valley Greenway Bridge, with Delcan as structural engineer and Patkau as architect.

William Baird, P.Eng., was given the Lifetime Achievement Award.

See www.cisc.ca/awards/bc