Today, the AIA announced the winners of its annual TAP/CCA Innovation Awards. This year, the event was organized jointly by the the AIA's Technology in Architectural Practice Knowledge Community (TAP) and its Construction Contract Administration (CCA). The program continues to reward emerging technologies and methods that benefit the practice of architecture from project planning, all the way to a building's operational stage.
The Innovation Awards are divided into five categories: Stellar Design, Project Delivery & Construction Administration Excellence, Project Lifecycle Performance (no winner was selected this year), Academic Program/Curriculum Development, and Exemplary Use in a Small Firm.
This year's jury was led by Ken Sanders, FAIA, managing principal of firmwide resources at Gensler, in San Francisco. The rest of the jury was made up of Heather Burpee, research assistant professor of the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington, in Seattle; Ian O’Cain, AIA, project architect at Eskew+Dumez+Ripple Architects, in New Orleans; Greg Gidez, AIA, architect and corporate director for Preconstruction and Design Management Services at Hensel Phelps Construction, in Greeley, Colo.; Pierce Reynoldson, building technologist at Skanska, in New York.
The public can vote for their favorite project here until Nov. 18.
Scroll down for the 2016 award recipients:
Stellar Design (Award Citation)
Astana Expo City 2017 by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Astana, Kazakhstan.
Jury comments: "Innovative in energy and resource conservation. Design indicators show the complexity of this project from interoperability, optimization of form, and performance. Complex project with excellent coordination and analysis. Workflow analysis, performance metrics, and long term outlook are the way we should work everyday. Impressive use and integration of a number of technologies by a very large team to deliver a quality project in a short amount of time. Used each software for its strength."
Stellar Design (Honorable Mention)
Epic Deep Space Auditorium by Cuningham Group, Verona, Wis.
Jury comments: "Innovation seems to be moving from physical to digital iteratively. This project seems to make the best case for innovative use of technology to achieve the result, without their iterative process, it would have been very difficult to realize the project's success."
Project Delivery & Construction Administration Excellence (Award Citation)
Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Center for Advanced Care by Mortenson Construction & CannonDesign, Wauwatosa, Wis.
Jury comments: "One coordinated BIM model led to project team's streamlining of process on a highly complex project. Good use of a one-model approach and 4D modeling to provide a level of coordination and precision that is not the norm. Solid work + 'One model approach' is easier said than done."
Practice-Based or Academic Research, Curriculum or Applied Technology Development (Honorable Mention)
Glazing and Winter Comfort Tool by Payette, Boston.
Jury comments: "This presentation and tool are right on target for this award—it is innovative, collaborative, and the example of the kind of knowledge that needs to be at the fingertips of every designer when making decisions trading off between performance and cost. The presentation clearly outlines a complex topic, making it understandable and makes the concepts accessible."
Exemplary Use in a Small Firm (Award Citation)
Youth & Opportunity United by Studio Talo Architecture, Evanston, Ill.
Jury comments: "Very creative use of technology, low cost, high impact. Good next step beyond the interactive panoramas available in Revit. Inclusion of local context and the kids that the nonprofit benefit makes interactive panoramas more appealing to potential donors and community members. Really like the low-cost, accessible approach."
