ABIA Receives National Award

Today, Austin Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) Terminal East Infill project was honored by American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) with the presentation of a 2017 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (IDEAS2) award. The ceremony, which took place in the lofted security checkpoint, celebrated the entire team as passengers walked by. On behalf of the jury and AISC Larry Flynn presented the team with the award noting, “This place soars.” Page Principal Talmadge Smith accepted the award emphasizing both the value of the team and its supportive client. “This is our home, our airport, and together we successfully built a beautiful front door for Austin,” said Talmadge.

For more than 50 years, the IDEAS2 award has been the highest honor bestowed on building projects by the structural steel industry in the U.S. This year, ABIA is among 13 winners recognized nationally.

The ceiling of the hall is articulated with a fully expressed structure of slender steel beams organized along a central longitudinal spine and radiating outward in response to the oval shape of the room. The beams are deeper in the center, reaching more than seven feet in height, and taper toward the edges creating a graceful belly at mid-span of the hall.  At the building perimeter, the beams merge with columns, extending down the facade as slender blades that double as important sunshades.  The Austin airport’s East Terminal Infill Project is an exemplary use of steel in architecture.

"These projects and the creative people behind them showcase the beauty and usefulness of structural steel," comments Charlie Carter, president of AISC.

A panel of design and construction industry professionals identified National and Merit winners in three categories, based on total constructed value: The Austin airport was recognized with a National Award in the category of projects ranging from $15 million to $75 million.

Chosen from nearly 100 submissions, the projects are evaluated on their use of structural steel from both an architectural and structural engineering perspective, with an emphasis on: creative solutions to the project's program requirements; applications of innovative design approaches in areas such as connections, gravity systems, lateral load resisting systems, fire protection and blast; aesthetic and visual impact of the project; innovative use of architecturally exposed structural steel; technical or architectural advances in the use of the steel; and the use of innovative design and construction methods. The program also recognizes the importance of teamwork, coordination, and collaboration in fostering successful construction projects.

Austin’s airport Terminal East Infill Project team includes: the City of Austin Department of Aviation, design/builder Hensel Phelps, design firm Page, structural engineers Architectural Engineers Collaborative (AEC), steel fabricator Hirschfeld Industries, and steel erector Patriot Erectors.

The award also made national news and was featured in publications such as Civil + Structural Engineer Magazine and Bustler, the sister site to the leading architecture platform Archinet.