The American Institute of Architects (AIA) TAP/CCA Innovation Award honors new practices and technologies that 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. The AIA’s Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP) Knowledge Community, in collaboration with the Construction Contract Administration (CCA) Knowledge Community has selected the recipients for the 2016 TAP/CCA Innovation Awards.
Categories for the TAP/CCA Innovation Awards include: Stellar Design, Project Delivery & Construction Administration Excellence, Project Lifecycle Performance (none selected this year), Academic Program/Curriculum Development and Exemplary use in a Small Firm. The descriptions below give a brief summary of the projects being recognized. You can learn more about these projects by clicking on the name of the project/firm name.
Category A | Stellar Design
Award Citation
Astana Expo City 2017; Astana, Kazakhstan
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Image courtesy of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Currently under construction, Astana Expo City 2017 will embrace the exposition’s theme, “Future Energy,” with the aim of reducing the overall energy demand of the site by using both passive and active strategies. All opportunities for power generation were investigated and several were incorporated into the building-design guidelines, including high-performance glazing; energy piles that will reduce energy demand and provide temperature modulation during winter; energy storage capacity that can meet two days of emergency demand; 100% of rainfall from a 100-year storm event managed on site; and 90% of waste generated on site will be diverted from a landfill.
Honorable Mention
Epic Deep Space Auditorium; Verona, Wisconsin
Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc.
Image courtesy of cuningham group architecture Inc.
Situated on an 811-acre site, Deep Space is Epic Systems Corporation’s largest auditorium, seating up to 11,400 guests and was completed in less than 24 months. To create the rolling roof forms and building façade, a combination of hand sculpted and laser-cut models were developed concurrently in programs suited for generation of complex shapes. The final physical model was a large scale clay model that was 3D-scanned in order to produce a digital point cloud which was integrated with BIM software and became the engine that drove the other technical delivery tools of the project. The auditoriums 8-acre green roof provides visual and physical connections to the surrounding Wisconsin landscape.
Category B | Project Delivery & Construction Administration Excellence
Image courtesy of Steinkamp Photography
Utilizing the latest Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) building tools and technology, the design team developed and pioneered new ways to add value and communicate with each other. By implementing a one-model approach, the team was able coordinate in advance of construction, which reduced duplication of modeling efforts, and greatly accelerated the development of fabrication models. Compared to a previous project with the same construction management/architect team, the one-model approach resulted in a 50% reduction in Request for Information (RFI) and an 18% reduction in Architect Supplemental Instruction (ASI), as well as the addition of five floors per the owner’s request with no change to the original completion date of the project.
Category D | Practice-based or Academic Research, Curriculum or Applied Technology Development
Honorable Mention
Glazing and Winter Comfort Tool; Boston
Payette
Image courtesy of Payette
The Glazing and Winter Comfort Tool is based on existing scientific research that aims to improve the design community’s understand of the triggers of thermal discomfort in the wintertime. It was developed to be simple and intuitive so that architects and engineers can design glazed facades that provide the desired levels of transparency, comfort and energy performance at an ideal cost. The development of the tool involved contributions from building scientists, designers and web developers. Previously, the only way to understand which façade properties negatively or positively impact occupant comfort involved a costly and time-intensive Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation. The Glazing and Winter Thermal Comfort Tool was conceived to facilitate this decision-making process quickly and inexpensively early in the design.
Category E | Exemplary use in a Small Firm
Award Citation
Youth & Opportunity United; Evanston, IL
Studio Talo Architecture
Image courtesy of Studio Talo Architecture
Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.), a 45-year-old non-profit, youth development agency requested renderings of their new headquarters for a community outreach and fund-raising campaign. The architects understood that the youth, not the building, needed to be the campaign's focus, so they created multiple 360-degree virtual reality video renderings of spaces in the building, populated with video avatars of young people served by the organization acting as tour guides, explaining how Y.O.U. and the new building would impact their lives. Through the dynamic video rendering, community members and donors experienced Y.O.U's mission, rather than just their plans.
The public can now vote on their favorite AIA TAP/CCA Innovation Award project. Voting will be open from October 17th to November 18th. Voting can be done here: bit.ly/TAPyourchoice
The jury for the AIA TAP Innovation Awards include: Ken Sanders, FAIA (Chair), Gensler; Heather Burpee, University of Washington; Ian O’Cain, AIA, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple Architects; Greg Gidez, AIA, Hensel Phelps Construction and Pierce Reynoldson, Skanska.
Related Stories
Building Technology | Jun 18, 2024
Could ‘smart’ building facades heat and cool buildings?
A promising research project looks at the possibilities for thermoelectric systems to thermally condition buildings, writes Mahsa Farid Mohajer, Sustainable Building Analyst with Stantec.
University Buildings | Jun 18, 2024
UC Riverside’s new School of Medicine building supports team-based learning, showcases passive design strategies
The University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine has opened the 94,576-sf, five-floor Education Building II (EDII). Created by the design-build team of CO Architects and Hensel Phelps, the medical school’s new home supports team-based student learning, offers social spaces, and provides departmental offices for faculty and staff.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 18, 2024
A healthcare simulation technology consultant can save time, money, and headaches
As the demand for skilled healthcare professionals continues to rise, healthcare simulation is playing an increasingly vital role in the skill development, compliance, and continuing education of the clinical workforce.
Mass Timber | Jun 17, 2024
British Columbia hospital features mass timber community hall
The Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project in Duncan, British Columbia, features an expansive community hall featuring mass timber construction. The hall, designed to promote social interaction and connection to give patients, families, and staff a warm and welcoming environment, connects a Diagnostic and Treatment (“D&T”) Block and Inpatient Tower.
Concrete Technology | Jun 17, 2024
MIT researchers are working on a way to use concrete as an electric battery
Researchers at MIT have developed a concrete mixture that can store electrical energy. The researchers say the mixture of water, cement, and carbon black could be used for building foundations and street paving.
Codes and Standards | Jun 17, 2024
Federal government releases national definition of a zero emissions building
The U.S. Department of Energy has released a new national definition of a zero emissions building. The definition is intended to provide industry guidance to support new and existing commercial and residential buildings to move towards zero emissions across the entire building sector, DOE says.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 14, 2024
AEC inspections are the key to financially viable office to residential adaptive reuse projects
About a year ago our industry was abuzz with an idea that seemed like a one-shot miracle cure for both the shockingly high rate of office vacancies and the worsening housing shortage. The seemingly simple idea of converting empty office buildings to multifamily residential seemed like an easy and elegant solution. However, in the intervening months we’ve seen only a handful of these conversions, despite near universal enthusiasm for the concept.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 13, 2024
Top 10 trends in the hospital facilities market
BD+C evaluated more than a dozen of the nation's most prominent hospital construction projects to identify trends that are driving hospital design and construction in the $67 billion healthcare sector. Here’s what we found.
Adaptive Reuse | Jun 13, 2024
4 ways to transform old buildings into modern assets
As cities grow, their office inventories remain largely stagnant. Yet despite changes to the market—including the impact of hybrid work—opportunities still exist. Enter: “Midlife Metamorphosis.”
Affordable Housing | Jun 12, 2024
Studio Libeskind designs 190 affordable housing apartments for seniors
In Brooklyn, New York, the recently opened Atrium at Sumner offers 132,418 sf of affordable housing for seniors. The $132 million project includes 190 apartments—132 of them available to senior households earning below or at 50% of the area median income and 57 units available to formerly homeless seniors.
