Christchurch team wins building design prize

For immediate release
 
8/11/2010
 
Christchurch team wins major international building design prize
 
A Christchurch design team has won a major international prize at the prestigious Institution of Structural Engineers Awards for its work on NZi3, the Innovation Institute at the University of Canterbury.
 
Beca took the prize in the education and health category for the NZi3 building, beating competition from Denmark and the UK.
 
IStructE, as it is commonly known, has 23,000 members in 105 countries and attracts entries from around the world to its annual awards. This year bridge, buildings, rail and stadium projects were submitted from China, the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa and Japan, and included the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
 
Samir Govind, a technical director at Beca’s Christchurch office, took a break from post-earthquake remedial work to represent his team at the awards in London on Friday night (UK time).
 
Govind, president-elect of the New Zealand Institute of Building, said, “I feel incredibly proud to be representing New Zealand’s engineering talent on the world stage. We were already confident that structural design in New Zealand is world-class, but it is very satisfying to receive official acknowledgment from the pre-eminent global professional body.
 
“I’d like to acknowledge the work of architects Warren & Mahoney and contractors Hawkins who partnered with us on this project to achieve the challenging design requirements presented to us by the University of Canterbury.”
 
NZi3 is the first dedicated ICT research centre in New Zealand and was the first educational building to be awarded a 5 star Green Star rating in this country. Its futuristic form is shaped by its use as a hub of entrepreneurially-focused applied research and the requirement for maximum flexibility.
 
NZi3’s structure received the ultimate test on September 4 and came through with flying colours.
 
Past winners of the IStructE Awards have included Heathrow Terminal 5 and the Sungai Prai Bridge in Malaysia.
 
Also in competition this year was the new BNZ building on Wellington’s waterfront, designed by Beca for CentrePort Ltd, as well as the Supreme Court of New Zealand designed by Holmes Consulting.
 
 
NZi3
 
Engineers: Beca
 
Client: University of Canterbury
 
Architect: Warren and Mahoney
 
Contractor: Hawkins Construction
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