SCIA makes structural engineering software for steel and composite design as well as for designing concrete sections of buildings, and this year the company held its massive structural design competition, SCIA User Contest 2017.The competition had opportunities for structural engineers to win in six different categories: Buildings, Civil Structures, Industrial Buildings and Plants, Special Projects, the Special BIM Prize of the Jury and the Prize of the Public. With 124 entries from all over the world submitted to the contest, the six winners were remarkable standouts, so let’s take a look at each.
1. Buildings
To win this category, entrants had to present projects that focused on the design, modeling and analysis of buildings, roof spans for houses and high-rise buildings using SCIA Engineer.
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WINNER: Mouton for the Port House of Antwerp, Belgium. (Image courtesy of Zaha Hadid.)
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How SCIA Engineer was used: To create a global model (a model of its sculptural and concrete forms),with reinforcement calculations and steel checks, Belgian engineering firm Mouton used SCIA Engineer to perform a nonlinear calculation that considered bow imperfections for the steel columns in the atrium. (Image courtesy of SCIA.)
Designed through a collaboration between Mouton and the world famous Zaha Hadid Architects firm, the new Port House is two buildings: a restored, but inactive fire station and the new sculptural form resting above it. The combination of…