Vancouver structural engineers Fast + Epp have won the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Engineering Excellence at the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies British Columbia (ACEC-BC)’s 27th annual Awards for Engineering Excellence Gala.
The company was recognized for the structural design of the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre in Surrey.
The ambitious project involved designing the roof to resemble a gently undulating and metaphorically appropriate wave form.
The superstructure was constructed using a highly unusual structural system, a novel hanging timber catenary roof suspended between concrete buttresses and free-spanning 55 metres.
Rather than employ conventional steel roof trusses, glue-laminated timber "cables" were introduced, reducing the effective structural depth by 90 per cent.
This served to reduce building volumes and energy costs, sequester carbon, and provide the community with an architecturally striking and functionally efficient recreational environment.
Awards at the April 11 event were given in five categories: Buildings, Municipal & Civil Infrastructure, Transportation & Bridges, Energy & Industry, and Soft Engineering, as well as three awards to individuals.
ACEC-BC is British Columbia's provincial association of engineering consulting firms. ACEC-BC represents 85 of BC's consulting engineering companies that provide engineering and other technology-based intellectual services to the public and private sectors, and are integral contributors to major projects in British Columbia. ACEC-BC firms employ more than 9,000 people in British Columbia comprised of a workforce of engineers, geoscientists, technicians, technologists and other support staff.