PCI issues design competition call for entries

CHICAGO — The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) has issued a call for entries for its 2011 Design Awards competition. The competition, now in its 49th year, demonstrates how designers are continuing to utilize precast/prestressed concrete components to achieve sustainable, more cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing, and quickly constructed projects. To make a submission or learn more about the contest, please visit www.pcidesignawards.org/2011Intro/.

The deadline for submissions is May 23, 2011, and winners will be announced in July 2011. Producers of Design Award–winning projects will be recognized and awarded at PCI’s 2011 Annual Convention/Exhibition and National Bridge Conference, Oct. 22–25, 2011, in Salt Lake City. Program winners also will be identified on the PCI website and award winners will appear in PCI’s national publications. There is no entry fee for the competition.

Any structure in the United States, Canada, or Mexico that has been completed within the last three years and is substantially constructed with plant-manufactured precast, prestressed concrete; glass-fiber-reinforced concrete; and/or architectural precast concrete is eligible. Projects must be constructed using precast concrete manufactured in a PCI-certified plant. Projects may not have received a PCI Design Award previously; however, those who have received honorable mention may resubmit.

Entry categories include commercial structures (office buildings, retail stores, mixed-use structures, public/institutional buildings, and schools); industrial facilities (warehouses/distribution centers and manufacturing facilities); housing (single-family homes, multifamily buildings, hotels/motels, and retirement/assisted-living centers); specialized structures (parking structures, stadiums/arenas/sports facilities, justice facilities/courthouses, prisons/jails/correctional facilities, and custom solutions); and transportation facilities (bridges with main span up to 75 feet long, bridges with main span from 75 to 150 feet long, bridges with main span more than 150 feet long, rehabilitated bridges, nonhighway bridges, and special solutions).

Along with a number of best-in-class awards, recognitions also will be given for industry advancement, sustainable design, and the best all-precast concrete structure or solution.

Juries of industry experts will consider creativity and ingenuity in the use of precast concrete to achieve aesthetic expression, function, economy, and sustainability; and will recognize excellence in design, engineering, manufacturing, and erecting. Separate juries will evaluate buildings, bridges, and special categories.

All entries must be submitted electronically. Visit www.pcidesignawards.org/2011Intro/ for more detailed information about the competition, instructions on how to make a submission, sample submissions, and a link to the submission page. Entrants may update their entries up until the deadline.

Photos also must be submitted online. Entrants must provide signed photo release forms from each photographer that has supplied photos and a copyright release form for each project. These forms, along with instructions for online submittal, can be downloaded from the Design Awards site.

For more information, contact Brian Miller, P.E., LEED AP, at (312) 360-3216 or bmiller@pci.org.