The Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI) presented four Design Excellence awards and one Innovative Detail award during the 2017 CFSEI Expo held May 22-23 at the Sheraton Fort Worth Downtown Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas.

CFSEI Design Excellence Awards recognize small and large projects that exemplify excellence in the structural design of new or renovated structures utilizing cold-formed steel products. This year, four first-place awards were given to recognize residential, municipal and commercial projects, with two projects tied in the municipal category. The CFSEI Design Excellence Award winners were: 1) Residential – Excel Engineering, Inc. for Collegetown Terrace Building 7 in Ithaca, New York; 2) Municipal – Radius Track Corporation and McClure Engineering Company for Faena Forum in Miami Beach, Florida; 3) Municipal – Matsen Ford Design Associates, Inc. for The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, Florida, and 4) Commercial – Shaffer Wilson Sarver & Gray, PC for MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

A new Innovative Detail Award was introduced this year to recognize a cold-formed steel detail that exemplifies creativity or ingenuity to solve a design challenge. The CFSEI Innovative Detail Award was presented to ADTEK Engineers, Inc. for the Bedford Square project in Westport, Conn.

“These projects demonstrate the versatility of cold-formed steel design in solving some very challenging design issues, as well as the efficient use of time and resources,” said Maribeth Rizzuto, LEED AP BD+C, Managing Director of the Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute. “We think these award winners and their projects will inspire other design professionals to creatively use cold-formed steel for their own projects. We received a significant number of entries for this year’s awards, which made judging difficult. We appreciate the efforts of everyone who submitted entries.”

About the Projects

Design Excellence First Place/Residential – Excel Engineering, Inc. – Collegetown Terrace Building 7 – Ithaca, New York

Collegetown Terrace is a student apartment rental complex near Cornell University. Building 7 is the third stage in a multi-building complex situated on a 12-acre site and is the largest residential building in Tompkins County. The apartments include dorm-style rooms, studios and two- and three-bedroom apartments, with a total of 247 units and 344 bedrooms. Its design challenges included sweeping curves and merging floor joists to the exterior walls, which required innovative cold-formed steel solutions from the design team. Read more here.

 

Design Excellence First Place/Municipal (tied) – Radius Track Corporation and McClure Engineering Company – Faena Forum – Miami Beach, Florida

Faena Forum is a 43,000-square-foot facility designed as a public cultural center for large performance and art gatherings. The focal point of the structure is the upper assembly hall for art programs and private events. This hall is crowned with a 40-foot-high dome with a center oculus which is designed with radiused cold-formed steel. Originally specified as concrete, the dome created several design challenges, but proved cold-formed steel dome structures can compete with radiused structural steel and concrete and provide more open architectural solutions. Read more here.

 

Design Excellence First Place/Municipal (tied) – Matsen Ford Design Associates, Inc. – The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention – Gainesville, Florida

The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention showcases the history of Gatorade and its inventor, Dr. J. Robert Cade. The museum’s mission is to create classes, programs and exhibits that challenge visitors to use their creativity to change the world. The circular and stepped shape of the building presented several design challenges, especially the wing walls that slant out from the building with structural support stopping short of the outermost wall studs. Another challenge involved areas at walls where no structural steel support is present, including large curtain walls at a radius. Read more here.

 

Design Excellence First Place/Commercial – Shaffer Wilson Sarver & Gray, PC – MGM National Harbor – Oxon Hill, Maryland

MGM National Harbor has a footprint of over 800,000 square feet and consists of a casino, a theater with seating for 3,000 people, and a 23-story hotel. Cold-formed steel was used for the external walls and as a replacement for structural steel in some places. The most challenging design was the West Prow, which required the complete framing to be hung from structural steel beams and intense team coordination. Read more here.

 

Innovative Detail First Place – ADTEK Engineers, Inc. – Bedford Square – Westport, Conn.

Bedford Square is a new mixed-use community combining a renovated/converted historical firehouse and residential and commercial facilities, with each building ranging from two to four stories. The project has many unique architectural features, including complex roof geometry and several curved architectural openings and canopies. Innovative design solutions were needed for one of the balcony features, which included a large brick “eyebrow” requiring an extremely large radius while supporting roof rafter framing. Read more here.

 

CFSEI names 2017 CFSEI John P. Matsen Award for Distinguished Service

CFSEI also named Jeffrey Klaiman, P.E., Principal of ADTEK Engineers Inc. as the recipient of the 2017 CFSEI John P. Matsen Award for Distinguished Service. The award recognizes the significant contributions of an individual who has volunteered time, talent and resources to the cold-formed steel industry. It was renamed in 2016 to honor John P. Matsen, P.E., founder and principal of Matsen Ford Design Associates in Waukesha, Wisconsin, who passed away in June 2015. Klaiman was also recognized during the 2017 CFSEI Expo.

“Jeff is nationally recognized as an expert in the design and construction of cold-formed steel framing,” said Rizzuto. “He generously shares his knowledge and experience through industry webinars, seminars and other speaking engagements to promote the most efficient use of cold-formed steel framing, its design and inspection. This is the highest award that we present for individual achievement, and it is an honor to recognize Jeff, who shares the passion John Matsen had for demonstrating innovative design solutions available with cold-formed steel framing to other design professionals.”

Jeffrey Klaiman, P.E., is Principal of ADTEK Engineers, Inc. and leads the company’s structural engineering and specialty engineering (cold-formed steel) practices. He is licensed in multiple states. He currently serves as president of the Mid-Atlantic Steel Framing Alliance and is a member and past president of CSFEI; chairman of the Standard Practices Subcommittee of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Committee on Framing Standards; a member of the AISI Committee on Specifications for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members; and a member of ASTM Committees A05, C02 and C03.

The 2017 CFSEI Expo had more than 100 architects, builders/contractors, engineers and other construction industry professionals in attendance. The event provided opportunities for education, networking, and an exposition featuring state-of-the-art innovations, technologies and principles in cold-formed steel framing. This is the only event of its kind dedicated to the cold-formed steel framing industry and is held on an annual basis.