2023 SEE Awards

SEAoNY
Structural Engineers Association of New York

The SEAoNY Structural Engineering Excellence (SEE) Awards Program, formerly EiSE, recognizes the innovative and complex projects completed by structural engineering firms located in the New York City area. The SEAoNY SEE Awards Program is modeled after the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA) SEE Awards. The winning projects themselves can be located anywhere in the world but must demonstrate:

Creativity of complex design
Innovative use of materials and techniques
Sustainability of design in social, economic, or environmental considerations

SEAoNY SEE Award winners are selected from four major categories:

New Buildings

New building projects will be submitted under a single category. Three awards will be given in this category. Projects may include any type of building that is occupied or used by people including parking garages, airport control towers, industrial buildings, and other similar structures.

Other Structures

This category includes all non-building structures, such as towers, monuments, sculptures, art installations, pavilions, and similar projects. Bridges and other transportation structures may also be submitted such as vehicle and pedestrian bridges, highway structures, pipe or utility support spans, and similar structures. Projects may be of any span length or overall size. One award will be given in this category.

Forensic Analysis / Renovation / Retrofit / Rehabilitation of Structures

This category includes forensic analysis, structural renovations, seismic retrofits, adaptive reuse, rehabilitation of existing buildings or bridges, and similar projects. One award will be given in this category.

Engineer’s Choice Award

All finalists considered for awards are entered for the Engineers’ Choice Award. Voting takes place at the Annual Boat Cruise.

Young Engineer of the Year Award

This award highlights an engineer under the age of 36 who represents top rising engineer in the structural engineering industry that gives back to their industry and communities. The emphasis of this award is to recognize a Young Engineer that is providing a benefit to the industry, firms, and communities.

2024 SEAoNY SEE Award Winners

New Buildings

Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History - Arup

The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation is a new immersive expansion of the American Museum of Natural History that houses exhibitions, education spaces, a theater, collections spaces, and a library. The new entrance features a 5-story “canyon” wall that also acts as the primary load bearing structure supporting the building floors and interior bridges. To achieve both the biomorphic design and structural needs of the space, the project used shotcrete, a sprayable concrete more commonly used in infrastructure projects. Arup completed the structural design and rebar documentation in 3D using parametric modelling tools. During the construction phase, Arup leveraged these tools to carry out special inspections of the shotcrete reinforcement.

St. Louis City SC CITYPARK- HOK

CITYPARK is the 22,500-seat centerpiece of a mixed-use stadium district in the Downtown West neighborhood of St. Louis. Its slender steel columns facilitate a transparent aesthetic, with views into the field from the surrounding area and views out to the city from the seating bowl. Supported by the columns, a thin canopy accentuates the overall sense of lightness and provides protection from the elements while letting daylight in, amplifying fan noise, and creating a sense of enclosure. Cut-out corners draw people together to enjoy the game while creating flexible plazas that can host non-game day events.

Sphere- Severud Associates Consulting Engineers, PC

Sphere, a 516-ft-diameter semi-spherical building rising 366 ft above ground, is a fully immersive entertainment venue located in Las Vegas seating 17,600 guests beneath a domed roof and media plane. It is believed to be the largest spherical structure in the world. The Exosphere, the venue’s outer latticed grid shell, is composed of steel pipe sections and cast connecting nodes covered with 580,000 sq ft of programmable LED lighting, which presents stunning visual displays. Sphere elevates the theater experience to the next level and thanks to collaboration and creativity advances the state of the art of structural engineering as well.

Forensic Analysis/ Renovation/ Retrofit & Rehabilitation of Structures

Repurposing of St. John's Terminal into Google's New Headquarters- Entuitive

St. John’s Terminal building was constructed in the 1930’s as the depot for the rail tracks that are today’s High Line. The building’s redevelopment created a new, high-performance workplace, which was purchased by Google. The 1.3 million ft² building is designed as a single-tenant leased office building clad in curtain wall. A nine-level addition was constructed on top of the existing renovated three-story podium, for a total of 12 stories plus a penthouse plant and service space. The structure is a first-of-its-kind application of precast segmental bridge technology to vertical core construction in buildings. St. John’s Terminal building was constructed in the 1930’s as the depot for the rail tracks that are today’s High Line.

Other Structures

Minnesota Zoo Treetop Trail- Buro Happold | MBJ

Opened in July 2023, the Treetop Trail at the Minnesota Zoo is the ultimate adaptive reuse project. The project creatively transformed the Zoo’s existing 1970s, Corten steel monorail track into an 8-foot-wide pedestrian walkway that is now the world’s longest elevated pedestrian loop. The team conceived an ingenious construction approach, using prefabricated steel modules which were erected using a custom trolley system, built to ride along the existing monorail beam. Today, the trail stands emblematic of the Zoo’s mission: to connect people, animals, and the natural world to save wildlife.

Coney Island Rail Yard Complex- STV

After Superstorm Sandy damaged 28 structures at the Coney Island Rail Yard, STV provided design and environmental services to rehabilitate the largest rail yard of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s New York City Transit. Completed in December 2023, the Yard now boasts a robust perimeter protection system, featuring a 12,000-linear-foot-long, 15-foot-high flood wall with a 30-foot-deep cutoff wall designed to protect against a sea, lake and overland surges from major storm events. A new 5000-foot- long cable bridge elevates critical electrical and communication conduits above the design flood elevation, and numerous drainage and power resilience improvements keep the yard dry and operational.

Engineer's Choice

Domino Sugar Refinery- TY Lin | Silman Structural Solutions

Constructed in 1884 along the East River, the iconic Domino Sugar Refinery building became inactive in the 1990s and was formally shut down in 2004. The facility’s adaptive reuse involved retaining the landmarked brick walls while removing the industrial interior. The brick shell was temporarily braced while a new steel and concrete office building was constructed within. The new glass-clad building is inset from the historic brick, creating a continuous interstitial space. What was once a hive of industrial activity is now 460,000 sf of Class A office space geared towards the creative and tech industries.