Innovation Awards
Overview: The Ultra High Performance Concrete Innovation Awards celebrate the implementation and exemplary use of Ultra High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) in buildings, structures, and non-structural applications. Awards will be presented for innovative technologies and progressive practices by architects, engineers, project owners and materials specialists to promote excellence in design, craftsmanship in fabrication and construction of UHPC elements.
The Awards:
Ultra High-Performance Concrete Innovation Awards will be given to recognize creativity and highlight excellence in UHPC design, manufacture, or placement in the categories of Buildings or Infrastructure and additional categories the Judges deem appropriate.
- The UHPC Building Innovation Award will highlight the application of UHPC elements in buildings or assemblies such as columns, façades, partitions, or other architectural systems. Examples include UHPC employed for a strictly architectural, ornamental, or artistic purpose or as part of a structural system with an aesthetic component.
- The UHPC Infrastructure Innovation Award will focus on UHPC applications that operate primarily in a functional system. Examples include UHPC applied in a building’s structural system, bridge or bridge element, closure pour, overlay, foundation, pier, pavement, barrier/railing, security element or pipeline.
The Judges at their discretion may create one or more additional categories. Regardless of category, UHPC Innovation Awards will be presented not only based on the merits of the project but also on how well the nominee documents the process for employing UHPC.
Judging Criteria:
The UHPC Building Innovation Award will be presented to the entry that best details how it:
- Utilizes UHPC as a key feature to an architectural assembly, provides a sustainable design benefit otherwise unattainable or
- Utilizes UHPC in an innovative or non-typical structural application in building construction, or
- Features UHPC as a piece of art or display
- Special consideration to be given to projects using UHPC to provide a finish, color or texture.
The UHPC Infrastructure Innovation Award will be presented to the entry that best details how it:
- Utilizes UHPC as a structural element, or
- Makes use of UHPC as a functional component that takes advantage of UHPC’s special performance attributes. Or
- Features UHPC as a sustainable design element of the project
- Special consideration to be given to projects that utilize UHPC to provide a unique solution to an engineering or structural design problem.
Entry Submittal Process for Applicants:
Step 1: Applicants to complete Project Registration Form
Each submission must:
- Complete the Innovation Award Entry/Registration Form. The form includes a 500-word maximum project/application description that will be published by the Symposium organizers.
- Submit five to ten photographs per entry (no photo collages).
- Entrants have the option to submit one to four Shop Drawings, Details or Renderings.
- Sign the executed copy of the Innovation Awards Waiver form allowing the UHPC Symposium to republish at no cost images and submitted materials.
Step 2: Wait patiently; Winners are expected to travel to Wilmington, Delaware, USA, and participate in the Symposium Awards Ceremony
Step 3: Winners receive a notification.
A. No later than May 1st, 2023, winners to confirm they will register and attend the Symposium.
B. Submit a 2:00 minute video for the winning project by May 1st, 2023. The language used in the video should be English.
Ownership & Publication of Entries
All application materials submitted with entries shall become the property of UHPC Symposium organizers. A primary purpose of the program is to promote the use of UHPC and generate involvement of design and construction professionals in the technologies associated with UHPC. The UHPC Symposium organizers shall have the right to make all parts of the application materials available through publication. Part or all the information submitted may be disseminated editorially, or in advertisements in its own or other publications. This shall include the right to publish photographs and names of any and all award recipients without compensation.
Presentation of Awards
The awards will be presented at the UHPC Symposium Tuesday June 6, 2023. One or more representatives for the project must be present to accept the award on this date. Entries will be evaluated based on individual merit and how effectively applicants document UHPC’s role in project completion. The number of awards will be determined at the judges’ discretion and their decision is final.
Eligibility: Structures that employ UHPC materials completed from March 1, 2019, to March 1, 2023, are eligible for the submission process. The completion date is when the project was deemed to be “substantially complete”. A single submission for any one project will be accepted; first come, first served. Submission materials must be received by the published deadline. Winning projects will be determined by a panel of qualified Judges selected for their expertise in design, construction, concrete and architectural or structural applications. The decision of the Judges is final.
Individuals or groups submitting entries are encouraged to prepare a video for the project as the winners will be required to submit the video for the winning project once notified. The Individuals or groups submitting entries to the competition must be willing to attend the award ceremony during the UHPC Symposium in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 6, 2023.
Important Dates for Applicants:
- January 1, 2023 Project registration for the UHPC Innovation Awards begins.
- March 20, 2023 Close of Application process.
- April 19, 2023 Notify Winners; invite them to register and attend Symposium.
- May 1st, 2023 Winners confirm they will attend award ceremony.
- June 6, 2023 Announce Winners in the award ceremony
June 20, 2023 Press Release promoting Winners and Award
Contact information:
If you have any inquiries about the Innovation Awards, feel free to contact us at amandalr@iastate.edu.
2019 Innovation Award Winning Projects from Second International Interactive Symposium on UHPC
UHPC Innovation Award Winner – Buildings
Project Description: Healing Stay KOSMOS Resort
Contact’s Affiliation: Korea Institute of Civil Engineering & Building Technology (KICT)
Contact’s Location: Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Project Description: Roadway Bridge Connecting Downtown Chuncheon and Legoland Park
Contact’s Affiliation: Korea Institute of Civil Engineering & Building Technology (KICT)
Contact’s Location: Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Other notable projects