Building and transportation projects honored with awards of excellence

CHICAGO, Ill. – Twenty-four projects from throughout North America were recognized in the 50th Annual Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Design Awards Competition. The awards program includes best-in-class awards for both transportation structures and buildings, as well as special awards for industry advancement, sustainable design, and all-precast concrete. Eighteen buildings and six transportation projects were recognized in this year’s competition.

The PCI Design Awards recognize design excellence and construction quality using precast concrete. The program demonstrates how designers are continuing to use precast/prestressed concrete components to achieve sustainable, more cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing, and quickly constructed projects.

“Designers are pushing the envelope in their use of precast concrete to meet specific project demands,” said Debra Kunce, FAIA, LEED AP, an associate with Schmidt Associates Inc. in Indianapolis and a member of the Buildings Jury. “Several of the projects took an honest approach to precast concrete, yet seamlessly integrated it with other materials. The jury was impressed with the versatility of precast concrete.”

The award-winning buildings are listed below. Additional details and photos for each of these projects, as well as the full list of winners and honorable mentions, are available at www.pci.org/2012designawards.

2012 PCI Design Award Winning Buildings:

Commercial Structures:

Best Low-Rise Office Building
PBS 39 Public Media and Education Center at SteelStacks
Bethlehem, Pa.
Architect: URS Corporation, Columbus, Ohio
Precaster: High Concrete Group LLC, Denver, Pa.

Best Office Building Four or More Stories
Place de l’Escarpement
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Architect: Pierre Martin Architecte, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Precaster: Bétons Préfabriqués Du Lac, Alma, Quebec, Canada

Best Retail Structure
Paseo Altozano
Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico
Architect: Taller Unico de Arquitectos, Mexico City, Mexico
Precaster: PRETECSA, Atizapan de Zaragoza, Estado de Mexico

Best Mixed Use Structure
City Creek Center
Salt Lake City, Utah
Architect: Hobbs + Black Architects, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Precaster: PRETECSA, Atizapan de Zaragoza, Estado de Mexico

Best Theater and Winner of the Harry H. Edwards Industry Advancement Award
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Kansas City, Mo.
Architect: Safdie Architects, Somerville, Mass., with BNIM Architects, Kansas City, Kan.
Precaster: Enterprise Precast Concrete Inc., Omaha, Neb.

Best Data Center
SV5 Data Center
San Jose, Calif.
Architect: Sheehan Partners Ltd., Chicago, Ill.
Architect: Alfa Tech, San Francisco, Calif.
Precaster: Clark Pacific, West Sacramento, Calif.

Best Hotel/Motel
The Crash Pad: An Uncommon Hostel
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Architect: River Street Architecture, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Precaster: Metromont Precast Building Solutions, Hiram, Ga.

Government/Public Structures:

Best Government/Public Building
Perot Museum of Nature and Science
Dallas, Tex.
Architect: Morphosis Architects, Culver City, Calif.
Associate Architect: Good Fulton & Farrell, Dallas, Tex.
Precaster: Gate Precast Co., Hillsboro, Tex.

Best Justice/Correctional Structure
U.S. Federal Courthouse
Jackson, Miss.
Architect: H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, New York, N.Y.
Precaster: Gate Precast Co., Monroeville, Ala.

Best All Precast Solution
CTA Beach Comfort Stations
Biloxi, Miss.
Architect: Eley Guild Hardy Architects, Biloxi, Miss.
Precaster: Gate Precast Co., Hillsboro, Tex.

Best Military Structure
711th Human Performance Wing Complex
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
Architect: Cannon Design, Arlington, Va.
Associate Architect: Burgess & Niple, Cincinnati, Ohio
Precaster: High Concrete Group LLC, Denver, Pa.

Best Custom Solution
Cityplace Uptown Station
Dallas, Tex.
Architect: Good Fulton & Farrell, Dallas, Tex.
Precaster: Gate Precast Co., Hillsboro, Tex.

Parking Structures:

Best Parking Structure with Less Than 1,000 Cars
The New York Botanical Garden Parking Garage
New York, N.Y.
Architect: Ennead Architects, New York, N.Y.
Architect of Record and Engineer: Desman Associates, New York, N.Y.
Precaster: Unistress Corporation, Pittsfield, Mass.

Best Parking Structure with 1,000 or More Cars
Ruppert Plaza Garage and Macombs Dam Rooftop Park
New York, N. Y.
Architect: Clarke Caton Hintz,Trenton, N.J.
Precaster: Unistress Corporation, Pittsfield, Mass.

Institutional Projects:

Best School Project (K-12)
Exelon Gymnasium
Chicago, Ill.
Architect: Wheeler Kearns Architects, Chicago, Ill.
Precaster: Advance Cast Stone, Random Lake, Wis.

Best Higher Education/University Project and Best Sustainable Design
William H. Neukom Building at Stanford Law School
Palo Alto, Calif.
Architect: Ennead Architects, New York, N.Y.
Precaster: Walters & Wolf Precast, Fremont, Calif.

Best Religious Structure
Kansas City LDS Temple
Kansas City, Mo.
Architect: FFKR Architects, Salt Lake City, Utah
Precaster: Gate Precast Co., Ashland City, Tenn.

Best High-Tech/Laboratory Structure
Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building at Stanford University
Palo Alto, Calif.
Architect: ZGF Architects LLP, Portland, Ore.
Precaster: Walters & Wolf Precast, Fremont, Calif.

“The 50th anniversary of the PCI Design Awards program is a milestone for the Institute, as well as for the precast concrete structures industry,” said PCI President James G. Toscas, P.E. “As they have every year for the past 50 years, the 2012 entries displayed new ways of thinking that demonstrate the continuously expanding possibilities of precast concrete.”

Three panels of judges selected this year’s winning projects. One panel focused on buildings, one focused on bridges/transportation projects, and a third selected the special awards for Sustainability, All-Precast Solution, and the Harry H. Edwards Award for Industry Advancement. Members of the Buildings Jury were Robert Powers, AIA, LEED AP, senior associate, HOK Architects, St. Louis, Mo.; Debra Kunce, FAIA, LEED AP, associate, Schmidt Associates Inc., Indianapolis, Ind.; David Craddock, OAA, FRAIC, AIA (Hon.), project manager, NORR Ltd, Architects Engineers Planners, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Wanda Lau, LEED AP, associate editor, Hanley Wood Business Media, Washington, D.C.; and Tom Brock, AIA, principal, Thomas Brock Architect and associate studio professor, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Ill.

Members of the Special Awards Jury were Jeff R. Carlson, P.E., S.E., SECB, executive vice president and chief operating officer, The Consulting Engineers Group Inc., Mount Prospect, Ill.; Dennis A. Andrejko, FAIA, chairman of the Master of Architecture Program, Golisano Institute for Sustainability at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y.; and Gil Heldenfels, vice president, Heldenfels Enterprises Inc., San Marcos, Tex.

For project photos and details, judges’ biographies, and more information about the program, visit www.pci.org/2012designawards. For more information about the PCI Design Awards program, please contact Brian Miller, P.E., LEED AP, at (312) 360-3216 or bmiller@pci.org.

The submission site for the 2013 PCI Design Awards will open in January 2013 and submissions will be due in May 2013.