The American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI) announced the following top Professional Project Award (PPA) winners for 2024: 

• Best Overall Project (greater than $100 million) – Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru — Terminal 2, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Skidmore, Owings & Merril, LLPl
• Best Overall Project (less than $100 million) - Bowdoin College - Mills Hall and Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies, Brunswick, ME, HGA
• Most Innovative Project (greater than $100 million) - Sphere at the Venetian Resort, Las Vegas, NV, Severud Associates
• Most Innovative Project (less than $100 million) - Frank & Maureen Wilkens Science & Engineering Center, Cape Cod Community College, West Barnstable, MA, Vanderweil Engineers

Skidmore, Owings & Merril designed the structural system of the Kempegowda International Airport – Terminal 2 with two primary goals: to achieve sustainability through structural efficiency, and economy through modularity. The result is one of the lightest terminal roofs in the world at this scale, made entirely out of domestically produced materials and built with local construction technology. The Sphere at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, a Severud Associates project, encapsulates visitors at first glance with its Exosphere, the venue’s outer latticed grid shell, composed of steel pipe sections and connecting nodes, which supports the LED lighting.  

For Mills Hall and Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies, HGA designed the structures to utilize all-electric mechanical systems with 100% of their energy provided by Bowdoin’s nearby photovoltaic array to help execute Bowdoin’s target of net-zero carbon emissions on campus by 2024. The Frank & Maureen Wilkens Science and Engineering Center utilizes cross-laminated timber (CLT), low carbon concrete, and wood-clad facades to reduce embodied carbon, large overhangs to provide shading, and an air-source heat pump and hybrid electrical systems designed by Vanderweil Engineers to reduce mechanical loads and provide net-positive energy generation. 

AEI initially announced the project winners during its in-person annual Awards Ceremony in San Jose, California. 

The AEI Professional Project Award recognizes outstanding achievements in design and construction by honoring the art and science of an integrated approach to architectural engineering. The program focuses on high performance buildings including structural, mechanical, electrical and lighting systems as well as construction management and methods, and architectural engineering integration. Projects are evaluated on originality and innovative character, integration and collaboration, sustainability, energy efficiency and economics, effective use of technology and constructability and site logistics.

“This year’s award recipients demonstrate the immense scope of the high-performance building industry, ranging from world-class entertainment venues to educational centers and transportation hubs,” Nicholas A. Piteo, P.E., chair, AEI Professional Project Awards. “Awards in recent years have incorporated sustainable practices and resilient methods and materials that will ensure these projects will truly provide a net-positive for the communities they serve in the years to come. We are lucky to have such innovative, focused and technically excellent minds within our ranks that continue to make projects like these a reality.”

The Best Overall Project greater than $100 million Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru — Terminal 2, submitted by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP, was also given Awards of Excellence in Architectural Engineering Integration and Structural Systems Design. In addition to winning the award for Most Innovative Project award (under $100 million), Frank & Maureen Wilkens Science & Engineering Center by Vanderweil Engineers won the Award of Excellence for the Construction category, and the Mechanical category. HGA’s Bowdoin College - Mills Hall and Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies, which won the award for best overall project that cost less than $100 million, was also recognized in the Electrical category and Lighting category with Awards of Excellence. In addition, the renovation of the First National Tower in Omaha, NE won the Award of Excellence for the Renovation category.

For a full list of winners, visit www.aeippa.org/. 

PPA submissions were reviewed by a committee of jurors including distinguished members of the design and construction industry.