The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP) Knowledge Community developed the AIA TAP Innovation Awards to honor state of the art of the design, delivery, and management of the built environment as enabled by advanced processes and technologies.
TAP has spearheaded efforts to highlight case studies from the profession in the harnessing of BIM technology and processes to further design, construction, and project excellence. The AIA TAP Innovation Awards emphasizes how this array of new practices and technologies will further enable project delivery and enhance data-centric methodologies in the management of buildings for their entire lifecycle, from design, to construction, and through operations.
Categories for the TAP Innovation Awards include: Stellar Architecture, Delivery Process Excellence, Academic Program/Curriculum Development (none selected this year), and Exemplary use in a Small Firm.
Category A – Stellar Architecture
Submissions in this category exhibited exemplary architectural design and display innovations in practices and technologies.
Emerson College; Los Angeles
Morphosis Architects
An all-glass facade at street level invites students and the community to mingle at the public cafe. Image: Iwan Baan
Morphosis created a custom computational tool to layout key design elements that allowed for aesthetic and sustainable features to be developed in concert with each other. Anticipated to achieve a LEED Gold rating, this project delivers advanced energy efficiency features including radiant heating and cooling, window contacts to facilitate natural ventilation, operable sunshades, user controllability, and solar thermal collectors.
The project is expected to achieve a 15% energy cost savings over baseline figures and a 31% reduction of potable water use in all fixtures. Responding to local weather conditions, the automated sunshade system opens and closes horizontal fins outside the high-performance glass curtain-wall to minimize heat gain while maximizing daylight and views.
Category B – Delivery Process Excellence
Submissions in this category exhibited outstanding examples of innovations in collaboration in the project delivery process to fulfill project goals.
University of Delaware’s Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Lab (ISE Lab);
Newark, Del.
Ayers Saint Gross
The building and site utilize best green practices, including capturing stormwater in the landscape. Image: Tom Holdsworth
The architect and consulting engineers developed 13 design models using BIM software, which were combined to allow a full understanding of how each building system affected the other. These models were constantly available to the construction management team and fabricators via the project cloud.
An open exchange of files between design and construction entities allowed the project to be completed 60 days ahead of schedule. Robotically-controlled bulldozers enabled a greater level of control for site grading and retention swales. A constantly evolving schedule was made possible by linking modeled elements to timelines, ensuring early or on-time completion of each phase of construction.
Honorable Mention
OHSU/PSU/OSU Collaborative Life Sciences Building; Portland, Ore.
SERA Architects and CO Architects
The complex geometries of the building, including the atrium and its ramping system, were molded and coordinated in Revit and Navisworks. Image: Jeremy Bitterman
With 28 design teams in 10 states, the use of modeling software, file exchange software, cloud-based collaboration technology, and document management tools was critical to the project’s work flow. The entire construction team chose to collocate throughout the project, which allowed it to be conceived, constructed, and delivered in only 38 months.
During the latter stages of design, the architect, engineers, contractor, and subcontractors met frequently to hold clash-detection meetings, resolving system conflicts during design and easing the 3D model transition to the subcontractors. The design team calculated the total savings to the owner for their all-digital process was just under $10 million when accounting for print costs and labor hours.
Category D – Exemplary Use in a Small Firm
Submissions in this category exhibited exemplary improvements through application of progressive practices, innovative processes and advanced technologies in a firm of 10 or fewer members, at any stage(s) of the overall process of project feasibility assessment, programming, design, documentation, procurement, construction, and operation.
D-Bridge
Point B Design
Visual voxels project structural voels' geometry into the interior, maximizing visual stimulation. Image: Point B Design
The D-Bridge is a yet-unbuilt architectural project and experimental structure that serves as an extension to a private gallery and residence. The core feature of the Bridge serves as both its form and structure with 1,000 laser-cut, folded cells made from flat sheets of stainless steel (voxels). By developing a cultural change in practice, the team has been able to engage everyone involved in the project to create a greater level of collaboration and understanding.
The jury for the AIA TAP Innovation Awards include:
• Steven Wolf, AIA (Chair), Target Corporation
• Dr. Carrie Sturts Dossick, P.E., University of Washington
• Federico Negro, CASE
• Shane Burger, Woods Bagot
• Randall Deutsch, AIA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Related Stories
| Jun 11, 2018
Accelerate Live! talk: The smart jobsite — Predictive visual data analytics for proactive project controls
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), a trio of experts in predictive visual data analytics presents how design-build giant Clayco has leveraged this technology to achieve production efficiency on several construction sites.
| Jun 11, 2018
Accelerate Live! talk: ‘AEC can has Blockchains?’
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), HOK’s Greg Schleusner explores how the AEC industry could adapt the best ideas from other industries (banking, manufacturing, tech) to modernize inefficient design and construction processes.
| May 30, 2018
Accelerate Live! talk: Seven technologies that restore glory to the master builder
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), AEC technophile Rohit Arora outlines emerging innovations that are poised to transform how we design and build structures in the near future.
| May 30, 2018
Accelerate Live! talk: Why the AEC industry must adapt to the Internet of Things boom
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), building systems expert Jeff Carpenter explores established and emerging IoT applications for commercial and institutional buildings, and offers a technology roadmap for navigating the IoT landscape.
Sponsored | | May 24, 2018
Water treatment facility renovation benefits from laser scanning technology
BIM and Information Technology | Apr 5, 2018
Tech Report 5.0: Why wait for 3D renderings?
With emerging real-time rendering tools, project teams can design and render on the fly, for enhanced collaboration and resource savings. But the software comes with a catch.
Building Technology | Mar 1, 2018
Small construction businesses will continue to lag other sectors in tech spending this year
A survey of 800 companies found tepid interest overall in investing in “big data.”
BD+C University Course | Jan 2, 2018
The art and science of rendering: Visualization that sells architecture [AIA course]
3D artist Ramy Hanna offers guidelines and tricks-of-the-trade to ensure that project artwork is a stunning depiction of the unbuilt space.
Giants 400 | Dec 14, 2017
Top 85 BIM construction firms
Turner Construction Co., Gilbane Building Co., and The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest BIM contractors and CM firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
