Arup Named 2013 Design Firm of the Year by Engineering News Record California; Wins Two ENR Global Best Practice Awards

SAN FRANCISCO, July 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Arup, a multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm with a reputation for delivering innovative and sustainable designs, announced today that it has been selected as Engineering News Record (ENR) California's 2013 Design Firm of the Year. ENR cited Arup's "innovative designs, key roles on several high-profile projects and a deep commitment to a multidisciplinary approach in addressing clients' needs," as deciding factors in selection as this year's winner. In addition, two of its projects, the China Central Television (CCTV HQ) in Beijing, and The Shard in London, have been recognized in the first annual ENR Global Best Practice awards competition.

"It is an honor to be selected by ENR in these technical competitions," said Andy Howard, chief operating officer for Arup's Americas Region. "It is fantastic to be recognized for the quality and significance of the work we do, and these awards are acknowledgment of the enormous value our talented staff delivers to our clients and their projects." 

Among its many projects in California, the Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement in Long Beach, the Kaiser Permanente San Diego Project, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission building, the Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco and UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay were cited by the magazine. ENR bases Top Design Firm rankings on total revenue of design services from projects within their region during the previous calendar year. Firms are also ranked by design specialties and disciplines.

Internationally, two Arup projects have also been recognized in the ENR Global Best Projects competition. The new headquarters of China Central Television (CCTV HQ) in Beijing has been named the Best Office Project of the Year, and the 306-meter-tall London building known as The Shard, has been named Best Large Project of the Year.

In the first-ever ENR Global Best Projects competition, a jury of industry veterans chose projects for outstanding examples of the challenges, risks and rewards of designing and building internationally.

Dedicated to honoring the best global construction projects and the companies that designed and built them, the award program focuses on safety, innovations, challenges, and design and construction quality, while putting special emphasis on global diversity of project teams and international collaboration.

CCTV HQ is a 234m tall building with a highly unusual shape, described as a 'three-dimensional cranked loop'. The building, designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, is formed by two massive leaning towers, bent 90 degrees at the top and bottom to form a continuous tube. The judges were impressed with the team's effort to overcome the difficulties of gaining approval for a design outside the prescriptive Chinese building code, and also the challenge of connecting the two towers in the overhang suspended 36 stories in the air. The linkage was accomplished at dawn on a windless day, when the two towers were at the same temperature and the movements at a minimum.

Standing 310m (1,016ft) tall, The Shard's 95 stories will become a 'vertical town' comprising office space, residences, restaurants and the 18 floor Shangri-La Hotel. Working with Architect Renzo Piano, Arup was responsible for designing the building services that have been integral to delivering the architect's vision for this slender high rise building. Arup's innovative designs for the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, specialist lighting, IT systems, and fire engineering services were crucial in ensuring the building's functionality within its iconic form and complex geometry.

About Arup

Arup is the creative force at the heart of many of the world's most prominent projects in the built environment and across industry. Its engineers and consultants deliver innovative projects across the world. Arup opened its first US office 25 years ago, and now employs 1,000 in the Americas. The firm was founded in 1946 with an enduring set of values that fosters a distinctive culture, intellectual independence and collaborative approach. The people at Arup are driven to find a better way to deliver better solutions for their clients. (www.arup.com)

SOURCE Arup