Gala honours Alberta steel projects

The best steel projects in Alberta were honoured at an awards gala in Edmonton. The 2015 Alberta Steel Design Awards of Excellence took place at the Shaw Conference Centre.

The awards are intended to recognize exceptional skill and ingenuity in steel design and the innovative use of steel in addressing a variety of construction challenges.

Six projects took home top honours in six different categories.

The winner of the 2015 Collaboration Award was the team that worked on the Mosaic Centre.

The centre is a three-storey multi-purpose office building in Edmonton and it was the first IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) project in Alberta.

"It’s completely different from the traditional method of construction," said Greg Penney, project manager with Collins Steel. "All participants work under one contract. It’s used more in the United States, usually on bigger projects."

There was a pre-qualification process to ensure everyone’s values aligned with those of the owner and ultimately of the project. The owner sponsored and chaired several training sessions to introduce the IPD process to the team.

The Physical Activity and Wellness Centre at the University of Alberta was the winner of the 2015 Architecture Award.

Group2 Architecture Interior Design Ltd. was the architect on the project. The conical climbing facility is part of the new Physical Activity and Wellness Centre, which connects four buildings with a covered social street that serves as a pedestrian hub and gathering space for students.

"We were knitting together four buildings, moving an outside concourse indoors and adding a climbing centre," said Douglas Ramsey, a principal with Group2 Architecture Interior Design Ltd.

"Steel was apparent as the best choice. For one thing, steel made it easier to rest the new structure on top of the original buildings."

The space frame consists of HSS steel members in different planes and at different angles with custom plate and Cast Connex connections.

Peace Wapiti Academy was the winner of the 2015 Building Communities Award.

The design called for a hybrid style of roof as the optimal solution. Leder Steel fabricated and installed a new 50,000-square-foot structural steel roof over the existing roof.

"We had to install a number of joists over the existing roof, and the existing mechanical and electrical infrastructure had to be re-plumbed through the new roof structure – all with four feet of snow on top of the roof," said Richard Stern, vice-president of operations with Leder Steel.

The school asked the students to suggest an architectural feature that would represent them. The result was an ornamental steel antler feature wall on the exterior.

Edmonton International Airport’s Combined Office and Control Tower was the winner of the 2015 Engineering Award.

Dialog was the engineer and architect on the project.

Edmonton International Airport wanted its new combined office and control tower to be more than just a building – it wanted a structure that evokes a sense of place.

The use of steel plate shear walls instead of traditional concrete core walls for a lateral force resisting system was a first in Western Canada and reduced the need for concrete trucks and construction traffic on the airside apron. Steel plate shear walls are built up from steel beams and columns with thin infill plates between and offer speedy erection.

Another challenge was the requirement that airport control towers be designed as post-disaster buildings. The team built several layers of redundancy into the design, including a built-up mega-column on the airside apron that has structural integrity if accidentally impacted by vehicles or an aircraft.

The Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre in Camrose won the 2015 Sustainability Award.

Sustainability was a cornerstone design feature for the project and garnered an impressive four Green Globes, which was described a very high level in the Green Globes environmental design and management system.

The fly tower, a large box-like structure located above the stage in a performing arts facility and containing rigging for flying items such as audio equipment, was completely covered in photovoltaic panels

The Glacier Skywalk in Jasper took  home the 2015 Steel Edge Award, which is an open category for demonstrating excellence in steel design, fabrication, detailing or finishing.

The request for proposals called for the structure to hang over the side of the cliff with a minimal footprint.

"Nobody else had it cantilevered without hanging from a tower or cables," said Geoff Kallweit, a project engineer with Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. "The anchorage was very important – we drilled deep rock anchors into the side of the mountain so the skywalk was secured without additional structure to hang it from."

The skywalk’s viewing platform is cantilevered 30 metres from the steep cliff face and features 30 metres of glass walkway suspended 280 metres above the valley floor.

The awards are held every other year to promote the structural steel industry within Alberta and across Canada. The 2015 gala marked 10 years of celebrating excellence in steel design in the province.

Winners

Collaboration Awards

Mosaic Centre

Owner: Mosaic Family of Companies

CISC Fabricator/CISC Detailer: Collins Steel

Architect: Manasc Isaac Architects

Engineer: Fast + Epp

General Contractor: Chandos Construction

Erector: D.R. Steel Inc.

Architecture Award

The Physical Activity and Wellness Centre, University of Alberta

Owner: University of Alberta

CISC Fabricator/CISC Erector: Whitemud Ironworks Ltd.

CISC Detailers: Whitemud Ironworks Ltd. Apex Structural Design Ltd.

Architect: Group2 Architecture Interior Design Ltd.

Engineer: Stantec Consulting Ltd.

General Contractor: Clark Builders

Building Communities Award

Peace Wapiti Academy

2015 Engineering Award

Edmonton International Airport – Combined Office and Control Tower Owner: Edmonton International Airport

CISC Fabricator/CISC Erector: Supreme Group

CISC Architect/Engineer: DIALOG

CISC Detailer: Cadmax Detailing Inc.General Contractor EllisDon

Sustainability Award

Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre

Owner: University of Alberta

CISC Fabricator: Whitemud Ironworks Ltd., Canam Buildings

CISC Erector: Whitemud Ironworks Ltd.CISC Engineer: Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.

Architect: BR2 Architecture

General Contractor: Clark Builders

Steel Edge Award

Glacier Skywalk

Owner :Brewster Travel Canada

CISC Fabricator: Beauce Atlas

Architects: Sturgess Architecture

Engineer: Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.

General Contractor: PCL Construction Management Inc.

Erector: Bova Steel Inc.