Structural Engineering Showcase 2020 public vote winners announced

This year's Structural Awards are a little different due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time we featured all the entries online in an outstanding showcase.

As in previous years, we were impressed with the ambition and talent demonstrated by all of the projects. Projects were grouped into four categories, and we invited the public to vote for their favourites.

You can see the winners below.

 

Winner: Achieving architectural vision

Beijing Daxing International Airport Terminal

Submitted by: Beijing Institute of Architectural Design

A project to create the world’s largest airport terminal. A series of key technologies were proposed during the design to realise a fantastic architectural effect. These included a supporting system mainly composed of C-shaped columns, seismic-isolation system of a gigantic planar structure, and vibration control techniques for the high-speed railway passing through the terminal.

Winner: Challenging construction

Skiing Platform

Submited by: Helium Engineering

A platform connecting the ski resort slopes with the village on the other side of the river. The infrastructure (spanning up to 80m) hosted the finishing area of the alpine skiing world cup finals in 2019 including demountable grandstands. Design and construction were completed in 18 months. This was made possible by using a structural scheme that allowed quick fabrication and site assembling.

Winner: Creative design

DONUT

Submitted by: XinY Structural Consultants

A project to create a circular walkway supported on three existing buildings. Structural stability was achieved by using a single vertical truss along the internal ring. This enables the walkway floor and roof to cantilever from the internal ring truss outwards without any structure along the external ring. This gives an unobstructed view for visitors.

 

Winner: Sustainable leadership

Hobhouse

Submitted by: Thornton Tomasetti

A mixture of new and old technologies are used to create an expressive and efficient building. The building was sensitively constructed within and on top of John Nash’s existing masonry structures. By working collaboratively with the architect and English Heritage, it was possible to minimise structural intervention. The historic fabric of the vaults and the retained building were also preserved.