10 Stunning Projects Win Structural Steel Industry Design Awards

Ten projects across the country have won 2023 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel Awards. These awards, presented annually by the American Institute of Steel Construction, are the industry’s most prestigious design honor, recognizing projects that illustrate the exciting possibilities of building with structural steel and highlight the many ways steel can help express architectural intent, while harnessing its unique advantages for both simple and complex structural systems.

This year’s winners are a mix of adaptive reuse and brand-new structures.

Two of these existing structures — Seattle, Washington’s Federal Reserve Building and a brick industrial space in San Francisco, California — needed substantial work to bring their seismic systems up to code. Steel turned a 20th-century post office into a 21st-century transportation icon in New York.

In Seattle, steel allowed for a near-total demolition of the interior of Climate Pledge Arena — while keeping the roof and façade in place — and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, steel kept the music playing at an aging venue by literally raising the roof.

Bridging the gap between old and new, one brand-new structure finally brings a 1952 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe design to life, seamlessly bringing the striking design into compliance with modern building requirements. In Inglewood, California, steel allows a massive new stadium to feel light, while allowing movement in the event of seismic activity.

In California’s Orange County, steel serves as an inspiring canvas for an art museum, while steel gives zoo visitors in St. Louis, Missouri a lemur’s-eye view of the world. And a new terminal at DFW is impressive not only for the experience it gives travelers, but also for the way it landed — in large, modular sections.

This year’s winners will be featured at NASCC: The Steel Conference, April 12-14 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Press photos of all winners are available here.

Less than $15 Million
National Award: MacLac Building D (Rebirth of a Historic Paint Factory), San Francisco, Calif.

Airy steel trusses and a new mid-height structural mezzanine add seismic resistance to an unreinforced brick factory from 1906 — preparing it for another century of service.

Owner: Comstock Realty Partners, Los Angeles, Calif.
Architect: Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects, Berkeley, Calif.
SE: Gregory P. Luth & Associates, Inc. / GPLA, Santa Clara, Calif.
GC: RHC Construction, Oakland, Calif.
Consultant: Mark Hulbert Preservation Architecture, Oakland

Merit Award: The Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, Bloomington, Ind.
Owner: Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.
Architect: Thomas Phifer & Partners, N.Y.
SE: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Chicago, Ill.
GC: CDI Inc., Terre Haute, Ind.

$15 Million to $75 Million
National Award: Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa, Calif.

A flowing, irregular structure houses intimate small galleries, a reconfigurable main exhibition space and a rooftop terrace for large-scale sculptural works.

Owner: Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa, Calif.
Architect: mOrphosis Architects, Culver City, Calif.
SE: John A. Martin & Associates, Inc., Los Angeles
GC: Clark Construction Group, Irvine, Calif.

Merit Award: American Family Insurance Amphitheater, Milwaukee

Owner: Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. (Summerfest), Milwaukee
Architect: Eppstein Uhen Architects, Milwaukee
SE: Larson Engineering, Inc., Wauwatosa, Wis.
Fabricator: Ace Iron and Steel, Inc., Milwaukee AISC full member
GC: Hunzinger Construction, Brookfield, Wis.
Detailer: Nu-Way Drafting Corp., Wausau, Wis.
Erector: SPE, Inc., Little Chute, Wis. AISC associate member
Consultant: Mammoet (formerly ALE Heavy Lift), Rosharon, Texas

$75 Million to $200 Million
National Award: Federal Reserve Building, Seattle

Owner: Martin Selig Real Estate, Seattle
Architect: Perkins & Will, Seattle
SE: KPFF Consulting Engineers, Seattle
Fabricator and Detailer: Metals Fabrication Co., Airway Heights, Wash. AISC full member; AISC-certified building fabricator
GC: Lease Crutcher Lewis, Seattle
Erector: The Erection Co., Arlington, Wash.

Merit Award: DFW High C Gates Demolition and Replacement – Core and Shell, Dallas, Texas

Owner: DFW Airport
Architect: PGAL, Addison, Texas
SE: Henderson Rogers Structural Engineers, LLC, Houston, Texas
Fabricator, Detailer, and Bender/Roller: Miscellaneous Steel Industries, Kyle, Texas AISC full member; AISC-certified building fabricator
Erector: Acero Construction Services, Kyle, Texas AISC-certified erector
GC: The Walsh Group, Chicago
Consultant: Mammoet, Rosharon

Greater than $200 Million
National Award: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif.

Owner: Hollywood Park, Inglewood, Calif.
Architect: HKS Architects, Inc., Dallas
Structural engineer: Walter P Moore, San Francisco
Fabricator/detailer: Schuff Steel, Long Beach, Calif. AISC full member
General contractor: Turner Hunt Joint Venture, Inglewood, Calif.
Erector: Southwest Steel, Henderson, Nev. AISC full member, AISC-certified fabricator

Merit Award: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle

Owner: Oak View Group, Los Angeles
Owner’s representative: CAA ICON, Denver
Architect: Populous, Kansas City, Mo.
Structural engineer: Thornton Tomasetti, Inc., Kansas City, Mo.
Fabricator/detailer: LeJeune Steel Company, Minneapolis AISC full member, AISC-certified building fabricator
General contractor: Mortenson, Kirkland, Wash.
Erector: Danny’s Construction Company AISC associate member, AISC-certified erector
Civil engineer: DCI Engineers, Seattle

Merit Award: Moynihan Train Hall, New York

Owner: New York State/Empire State Development, New York
Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, New York
Structural engineer: Severud Associates Consulting Engineers, PC, New York
General contractors: Vornado Realty Trust, The Related Companies, and Skanska, East Elmhurst, N.Y.
Sculptures/Art Installations/Non-Building Structures

Merit Award: Michael and Quirsis Riney Primate Canopy Trails, St. Louis

Owner: Saint Louis Zoo
Architect: PGAV Destinations, St. Louis
SE: Leigh & O’Kane, Kansas City, Mo.
Fabricator: The Gateway Company of Missouri, Berkeley, Mo. AISC full member; AISC-certified fabricator
GC: Tarlton Corporation, St. Louis
Detailer: Nicoloff Detailing, Edwardsville, Ill.
Bender/Roller: Max Weiss Company, Milwaukee AISC associate member
Erector: Acme Erectors Inc., St. Louis
Animal Enclosure Consultant: A Thru Z Consulting, Tucson, Ariz.