Over 48 years ago, the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) launched its Annual Design Awards program. The purpose of the PCI Design Awards program is to recognize design excellence and construction quality using precast concrete.

Entries are accepted in two primary categories: buildings and transportation structures. In order to qualify, the structure must be substantially constructed using precast concrete. For buildings, this includes precast concrete cladding systems (architectural precast), structural systems, or combinations of both. For transportation structures, this includes all types of bridges and other related components for which the precast concrete has been manufactured in a permanent precast concrete manufacturing plant. More details on submission categories are presented in Table 1.

*Includes high-tech facilities & food processing
**Includes apartments, condominiums, & dormitories

SPECIAL AWARDS

There are three optional, special award categories for which projects may apply in addition to the primary ones. These include the Harry H. Edwards Industry Advancement Award, All-Precast Solution Award, and Sustainable Design Award.  Projects applying for these special awards must meet all eligibility and entry requirements for their submitted structure type as well as submit additional information relative to the special award applied for. 

These are cross-category awards.  Parking structures, for example, can compete with office buildings or bridges in these special categories. 

Harry H. Edwards Industry Advancement Award

The purpose of this award is to showcase fresh, uninhibited concepts that hold the potential to move the industry to the next generation of technology for industry, materials, products, processes, and applications.

All-Precast Solution Award

This award recognizes the structure in which the owner's needs were best achieved by the selection of an essentially all-precast, prestressed concrete system.  This design uses precast concrete for both the structural and envelope systems.  

Sustainable Design Award

PCI seeks to promote green building and infrastructure, which incorporates environmental considerations in every phase of the process, including design, construction, and operation.  The purpose of this award is to encourage the construction of responsible, innovative designs that are sensitive to the environment while meeting the needs of the public, owner, and occupants.  Buildings need not be LEED certified to qualify.

Sustainable Design, additional information:

1. List all green goals or owner project requirements for this project and a short explanation of how they were achieved. 
2. Submit a short narrative on any green/sustainable modifications to your typical plant processes and procedures that were required for this project.
3. Provide a breakdown of all LEED points achieved (if applicable) in this project, as well as a short description of any points where precast concrete contributed to the attainment of points.
4. Describe the sustainable attributes precast concrete added to the project.
5. Describe any up-front and ongoing collaboration among team members.
6. List any lessons learned related to working on a green project.

Submissions

There is NO ENTRY FEE to make a submission.  Entries are made electronically.  The submission site for the 2011 Design Awards will open in early 2011.

Eligibility

Entries must be submitted by the architect or engineer of record. To be eligible for consideration, a structure must be:

• Geographically located in the United States, Canada, or Mexico
• Completed within the last three years (for 2011 entries, no earlier than Jan 1, 2008)
• Substantially constructed with plant-manufactured precast, prestressed concrete (this includes architectural and structural applications) or glass-fiber-reinforced concrete.

Awards and Recognition

Because of the broad diversity and the nature of challenges offered to architects and engineers, no first-place award will be made.  All awards will express equivalent recognition at a high level of excellence.  There will not necessarily be an award in each category, and there may be cowinners and/or honorable mentions in certain categories. In special cases, PCI has the option to create ad hoc categories when they feel that doing so is necessary given the specific projects under consideration.

Winning PCI member producers are honored at the 2010 Awards Banquet this year held at the PCI Committee Days and Mambership Confeeence Friday, September 24, 2010, in Chicago, IL. For more information about PCI Committee Days, click here.
      

All winners will also be showcased in the summary article which appears in the PCI Journal, Aspire, and Ascent magazines. Together, these three publications reach over 75,000 industry stakeholders.

Disclaimer 

Because the purpose of the program is to encourage new and advanced architectural and engineering approaches in the use of our industry’s products, PCI shall have the right to publish all photographs and names of any and all entrants and projects submitted to the program without compensation.  Each entrant assumes responsibility for material submitted. All submissions become property of PCI.

We encourage you to take advantage of this great opportunity to showcase your project!  The search for excellence will continue in 2011.  More details on the 2011 PCI Design Awards will be forthcoming.