Ernst & Sohn - Structural Engineering Award

Ernst & Sohn's 2013 Structural Engineering Award
Prizewinner

The jury met on 16 November 2012 in Berlin. From 37 projects in 13 countries that were handed in, the jury selected one winner after comparing their functional, technological, commercial and aesthetic aspects:

National Stadium Warsaw

All the projects were excellent examples of the range of structural engineering, and were given their essential character in design and construction by the engineers - in buildings, some dominated by a certain unusual architecture. The jury, chaired by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Curbach, Technical University of Dresden, determined the winning project according to many evaluation points.

In addition, the following projects received a commendation (without order):

Steel viaduct of the Binnenhafen Bridge, Hamburg (D)
Refurbishment of the main station in Hamburg (D)

The prize has been awarded since 1988 every other year for exceptional achievements in structural engineering. The prize is given to the project team responsible for the distinguished structure. Winners receive a representative badge.

The winning structure will be presented in detail in the various journals published by Ernst & Sohn. Through national and international journals more than 30,000 expert readers will be informed about the projects, participating engineering offices and contractors. Furthermore, the publisher documents and disseminates all submissions through its range of online publications.

The Award Ceremony

The prize award and the handing over of the certificates took place on 25 January 2013 at a ceremony for invited guests in the Magnus Haus of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft in Berlin. Among the guests were not only the representatives of the three winning projects but also the jury members and various personalities from the construction industry, including the momentum columnist Falk Jaeger.

The event was introduced by Karin Lang, managing director of the publisher Ernst & Sohn, and Prof. Manfred Curbach, who also acted as chairman of the jury. Greetings and best wishes were expressed by Ministerialdirektor Günther Hoffmann from the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Construction and Town Development, Herr Rainer Ueckert representing the president of the German Engineer's Chamber Herr Hans-Ulrich Kammeyer, and Herr Josef Seiler as chairman of Ingenierbaukunst e.V. After the certificates and the plaque for the structure had been handed over to the engineers responsible for the National Stadium in Warsaw, Knut Göppert, Knut Stockhusen and Lorenz Haspel from Schlaich, Bergermann und Partner described the project in detail with a very successful presentation. This offered all those present an exact idea of the exceptional project.

The engineers involved with the two other prizewinning projects were also handed their certificates and plaques at the event. Herr Uwe Heiland described the refurbishment of the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof and Herr Martin Grassl the Hochbahnviadukt am Binnenhafen. as a conclusion, the guests were invited to a buffet, which led to many interesting conversations.

Further documentation

The 13th Structural Engineering prize was documented much more extensively than before. In addition to reports in the magazine Bautechnik and the other magazines from the publisher and the inclusion of all the projects that were handed in in the Structurae database, many photos and videos were made at the presentation. All the jury members attending were interviewed, and each was asked three questions: their definition of an excellent work of structural engineering, the collaboration between engineers and architects and the purpose of the Structural Engineering prize.

These videos are available in full length exclusively from momentum.

Impressions from the award ceremony and videos... (in German only)

Evaluation Criteria

The entire construction project will be evaluated based on functional, technical, economic and aesthetic aspects, though an exceptional engineering achievement must be recognisable. The following criteria will be used in the evaluation of the submitted projects:

Structure
Innovation
Aesthetics
Ecology
Construction engineering

The 2013 Jury

Prof. DDr. Konrad Bergmeister
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Annette Bögle
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Curbach
TRDir´in Dipl.-Ing. Brit Colditz
Dr.-Ing. Christian Dehlinger
Dipl.-Bauing. Markus Gehri
Dr. Bernhard Hauke
Dipl.-Ing. Johann Sischka
Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Holger Svensson

Dr.-Ing. Klaus Stiglat (honorary member of the jury)

M.Sc. Eng. Nicolas Janberg
Dr.-Ing. Dirk Jesse
Dr.-Ing. Karl-Eugen Kurrer
Dipl.-Ing. Karin Lang

Eligibility Requirements

The engineering service must have been provided within Germany, Austria, or Switzerland.
The location of the structure is not limited and can be located anywhere – this is a change from previous awards
The structure must have been completed between August 2010 and August 2012
Eligible persons are those who were responsible for the design and/or execution of the structure

The award ceremony will be held at the end of January 2013 in Berlin.