ASI Excellence Awards 2020

Lendlease’ Bankwest Stadium was among the projects celebrated for their innovative use of steel across a number of awards categories in the recently announced Australian Steel Institute (ASI) Steel Excellence Awards for 2020.

The Stadium won the ‘Buildings (Large Projects)’ category. Winner of the ‘Buildings (Small Projects)’ category, the Kalbarri National Park Skywalk Amenities, is a WA tourism project which includes a walkway extending out over the Murchison Gorge. InfraBuild Steel Centre in WA was the supplier on this award-winning project. 

The Australian Steel Institute holds the Excellence awards annually and this year overcame social distancing challenges by announcing the awards online. The awards are a showcase of projects which celebrate and promote the innovative use of steel.

Of the National Award categories presented, Yagan Square in WA, described as ‘a landmark piece of cultural and civic infrastructure’ in Perth’s CBD, took out the award for ‘Steel Clad Structures’. The winner of the national award for ‘Engineering Projects’ was Lachlan’s Line Pedestrian Bridge. The pedestrian bridge was described as “a unique construction which facilitates safe pedestrian and cycle access” to and from the North Ryde metro station in Sydney’s inner north west.  

The state winners of the Steel Excellence Awards were announced in the weeks preceding the national award announcement. InfraBuild was involved with several large, small and engineering project category winners and highly commended projects in the state awards.

In Victoria, InfraBuild was the manufacturer for both the winning project in the ‘Buildings (Large Projects)’ category, 271 Spring Street and the highly commended project 80 Collins Street.

The building at 271 Spring Street was described as “setting a benchmark of balancing commercial development need with heritage preservation in an area constrained by complex existing infrastructure. The result is a modern 16 storey boutique commercial office space”.

While the 80 Collins Street project saw the construction of a 188-metre-high unique and complex building which cantilevers 12.5 metres over the existing heritage buildings. Five custom fabricated mega-trusses support 32 levels above the building.

In Queensland, 300 George Street received a high commendation in the ‘Buildings (Large projects)’ category. While the winning project in the ‘Engineering Projects’ category was the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal Facility, also constructed with InfraBuild input.

In NSW, of special note was the smaller scale regional project, the Bathurst Railway Museum which won the ‘Buildings (Small Projects) category. The industrial look of the completed complex of buildings which incorporate a red rattler train carriage meant ‘steel was the only logical material choice to achieve the desired aesthetic’. Shellhouse Wynyard Place received a high commendation in the Engineering Projects category for NSW.

In SA, InfraBuild has ongoing involvement in the ‘Buildings (Large projects)’ category winner, Osborne Naval Shipyard facility.

This facility is for the nation’s $35 billion-dollar Hunter Class Future Frigate program and forms part of Australia’s long-term defence strategy. The facility contains more than 25,000 tonnes of steel.

The ASI said each submission in the 2020 Awards had demonstrated intelligent design work in the use of steel. “With such outstanding applications it is evident that good design provides for the utilisation of responsibly sourced materials, efficient fabrication and erection delivering completed buildings that meet the high requirements of energy efficiency.”

Congratulations to the winners, highly commended and shortlisted entries and all those involved with the Steel Excellence Awards this year.

Image courtesy of Scott Slawinski