Samsung Americas headquarters wins national steel design award

Chicago — The Samsung Americas Headquarters (Device Solutions) in San Jose, Calif., earned national recognition in the 2017 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel awards program (IDEAS²). In honor of this achievement, members of the project team will be presented with awards from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) during a ceremony to take place at the building on Wednesday, August 9, at 11:45 a.m.

“The grand, floating tiers are engineering wonders that elevate the building to a future time,” commented April Y. Wang, a structural engineering master’s student at Purdue University’s Bowen Laboratory, and the engineering student juror in the competition.

With no perimeter columns on the east and west sides, the 10-story tower appears to float at every third level and offers occupants unobstructed external views. The resulting spaces, and the atriums around them, are dedicated collaboration areas, facilitating casual meetings and breaks from the traditional work spaces.

The project’s team members include:

• Owner: Samsung Americas, San Jose, Calif.
• Owner’s Representative: Samsung C&T, San Jose, Calif.
• Architect: NBBJ, Los Angeles
• Structural Engineer: Arup, Los Angeles (entered the project in the competition)
• General Contractor: Webcor, San Francisco
• Steel Fabricator: Gayle Manufacturing, Woodland, Calif. (AISC member / AISC certified)
• Steel Detailer: A.D.S. Engineering, Inc (AISC member)

The 13 IDEAS² winners for 2017 were chosen from nearly 100 submissions received from architectural and engineering and other project team member firms throughout the U.S. Each submission is reviewed and award winners are selected by a nationally recognized panel of design and construction industry professionals.

The IDEAS² award dates back more than 50 years with AISC. And about this year’s winning headquarters building, Charlie Carter, SE, PE, PhD, president of AISC, said, “This building is substantial yet light and graceful. It stands as a testament to the creativity and skill of its designers and constructors — and the steel materials that made it work.”