Thornton Tomasetti receives ACEC Diamond Award for Barclays Center

New York — Thornton Tomasetti was recognized by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) with a 2014 Engineering Excellence Awards, Diamond Award in the Structural Systems category for its work on Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The award was presented to the Thornton Tomasetti project team on April 29 at ACEC’s Engineering Excellence Awards Gala — the “Academy Awards” of the engineering industry — which recognizes preeminent engineering achievements throughout the world. The event was held at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C.

A distinguished panel of judges representing a variety of professions selected this year’s winners based on criteria such as uniqueness and originality, complexity, and technical, economic and social value.

Key points

• Thornton Tomasetti provided full structural design and construction support services, including connection design, delivery of a Tekla model and erection engineering services, for the 675,000-square-foot arena and home of NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, which opened in fall of 2012.

• The design-build, LEED Silver-certified project features 17,732 seats for basketball (with up to 18,000 for concerts), an ice floor for hockey and other events, 101 suites, four bars/lounges, four clubs, a restaurant and street-level retail.

• The arena’s signature features are a weathered steel lattice that wraps around the entire structure and an entrance canopy that cantilevers 85 feet over the plaza.

• Its arched roof spans more than 380 feet and is supported by a pair of 350-foot tied arch trusses spanning the long direction of the arena. The complex roof system geometry is further complicated by the additional loads imposed by the steel façade. The building lateral system and diaphragms were designed to resist thrust forces from the roof arches, which were minimized by use of the tension tie.

• Thornton Tomasetti provided Tekla models, connection samples and full connection design, which allowed the team to produce models quickly, store large quantities of information as well as facilitated coordination.

• Since opening, Barclays Center has been a huge success, in 2013 surpassing Madison Square Garden as the highest-grossing venue in the United States for concerts and family shows, according to Billboard magazine.