For Immediate Release: June 2, 2008
Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin Wins National "Grand Award" for Engineering Innovation
Milwaukee, WI - Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin, designed by HGA Architects and Engineers, has won four major engineering and architecture awards, including the national Grand Award through the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) 2008 Engineering Excellence Awards program. The Grand Award recognizes innovation, expertise, and ingenuity in engineering achievements from private engineering firms throughout the United States.
In addition to the national Grand Award, Pier Wisconsin won a state Grand Award through the American Council of Engineering Companies of Wisconsin (ACEC-WI) 2008 Engineering Excellence Awards programs.
Pier Wisconsin also won a 2008 Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects-Wisconsin (AIA-WI). The Honor Award is the profession's highest recognition of works that exemplify excellence in architecture, interior architecture, and urban design. A jury of nationally renowned architects selected the honorees.
Additionally, HGA took 1st Place for Educational/Institutional interiors in the 2008 Celebrate in Design Awards program through the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Wisconsin Chapter.
The AIA-WI jury lauded the project as a "very clear and a very crisp building. It is attractive because of its simplicity, cohesiveness and effective design imagery. The architects demonstrated courage to stand on their own in terms of an architectural gesture. The project gained a lot of strength because it did not attempt to compete with its neighbors. The overall presentation of this project is appealing because it showcases the building and its setting while the building's design showcases the city. The architects and the owners took very seriously their responsibility to make a public building about the public space and the city-and that's great."
Designed in collaboration with engineers Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer %26 Associates Inc., Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin is a 120,000-square-foot aquatics museum and aquarium overlooking Lake Michigan in downtown Milwaukee. The complex includes a rectangular Science Building with exhibits connected to a circular Aquarium Building with saltwater and freshwater tanks. The glass-and-steel-framed facility is clad in white high-density resin panels attached to a grid of stainless-steel fasteners, offering a shimmering lakefront presence.
Discovery World's lakefront location drove many of the innovative structural and mechanical engineering solutions. Four 250-ton capacity piles driven into nine-foot-diameter casings into Lake Michigan allows the buildings to seemingly float above the water, while steel beams supported by nine-foot-steel casings support the shoring required to carry the concrete slabs. The aquarium, constructed beneath the lake, withstands downward forces as well as hydrostatic uplift pressures. Sustainable design features include the use of a heat pump system to cool the building using Lake Michigan water for air conditioning, a water-retaining green roof over the underground parking structure, daylighting, exterior sunshades, high-efficiency lighting, and natural ventilation.
"This project combines so many unique engineering solutions on such a large scale that it instantly grabs your attention," said the ACEC-WI awards jurors.
The national and state ACEC award jurors consisted of industry experts outside the association membership. Jurors based their decisions on effective use of engineering techniques, originality, value to the engineering profession, social/economic/sustainable design considerations, complexity, quality of work, and level of customer service.
:: View Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin
HGA Contact: Julie Luers (612) 758-4000 e-mail JLuers@hga.com
Media Contact: Susan Evans, Evans Larson (612) 338-6999 e-mail susan@evanslarson.com