San Jose Civic Center Wins Design Award

San Jose Civic Center Wins Design Award
The San Jose Civic Center was named a Merit Award winner in the 2006 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel awards program by the American Institute of Steel Construction Inc.

The Institute said Wednesday that the San Jose Civic Center was recognized in the category of projects $75 million or greater, making the project one of only three around the country to earn an award in that classification.

Each year, the awards honor projects in three categories based on constructed value: less than $15 million; $15 million to $75 million; and $75 million or greater.

Each project is judged on its use of structural steel, with an emphasis on creative solutions to project requirements, design innovation, aesthetic and visual impact of the project, innovative use of architecturally exposed structural steel, technical or architectural advances in the use of steel, and the use of innovative design and construction methods.

The winners for 2006 were chosen from more than 70 submissions received by architectural and engineering firms throughout the U.S.

The San Jose Civic Center is an 18-story tower featuring a 104-foot tall rotunda, low-rise council wing, 300-car underground parking structure and public plaza.

With dome construction normally associated with masonry or concrete construction, the use of