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
Market Data | Apr 1, 2024
Nonresidential construction spending dips 1.0% in February, reaches $1.179 trillion
National nonresidential construction spending declined 1.0% in February, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.179 trillion.
Affordable Housing | Apr 1, 2024
Biden Administration considers ways to influence local housing regulations
The Biden Administration is considering how to spur more affordable housing construction with strategies to influence reform of local housing regulations.
Affordable Housing | Apr 1, 2024
Chicago voters nix ‘mansion tax’ to fund efforts to reduce homelessness
Chicago voters in March rejected a proposed “mansion tax” that would have funded efforts to reduce homelessness in the city.
Standards | Apr 1, 2024
New technical bulletin covers window opening control devices
A new technical bulletin clarifies the definition of a window opening control device (WOCD) to promote greater understanding of the role of WOCDs and provide an understanding of a WOCD’s function.
Adaptive Reuse | Mar 30, 2024
Hotel vs. office: Different challenges in commercial to residential conversions
In the midst of a national housing shortage, developers are examining the viability of commercial to residential conversions as a solution to both problems.
Sustainability | Mar 29, 2024
Demystifying carbon offsets vs direct reductions
Chris Forney, Principal, Brightworks Sustainability, and Rob Atkinson, Senior Project Manager, IA Interior Architects, share the misconceptions about carbon offsets and identify opportunities for realizing a carbon-neutral building portfolio.
Reconstruction & Renovation | Mar 28, 2024
Longwood Gardens reimagines its horticulture experience with 17-acre conservatory
Longwood Gardens announced this week that Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience, the most ambitious revitalization in a century of America’s greatest center for horticultural display, will open to the public on November 22, 2024.
Office Buildings | Mar 27, 2024
A new Singapore office campus inaugurates the Jurong Innovation District, a business park located in a tropical rainforest
Surbana Jurong, an urban, infrastructure and managed services consulting firm, recently opened its new headquarters in Singapore. Surbana Jurong Campus inaugurates the Jurong Innovation District, a business park set in a tropical rainforest.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 27, 2024
Kansas City’s new Sobela Ocean Aquarium home to nearly 8,000 animals in 34 habitats
Kansas City’s new Sobela Ocean Aquarium is a world-class facility home to nearly 8,000 animals in 34 habitats ranging from small tanks to a giant 400,000-gallon shark tank.
Market Data | Mar 26, 2024
Architecture firm billings see modest easing in February
Architecture firm billings continued to decline in February, with an AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score of 49.5 for the month. However, February’s score marks the most modest easing in billings since July 2023 and suggests that the recent slowdown may be receding.
