constructsteel Awards 2023 Winners

Introduction

The constructsteel Awards recognise steel construction stakeholders for their contribution to the positioning of steel in the construction industry over a one-year period in a series of categories impacting the construction industry.

Nominations overview

Best Project of the Year 

DARWIN 1111 – Residential Building – Idero S.R.L. / Grupo Salvatore (Argentina) 
An urban residential building in Buenos Aires delivered through an industrialised steel structural system enabling prefabrication, transport, and precise staged on-site assembly.

Lighthouse Housing Project under PMAY, Lucknow – M/s Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. (India) 
A mass-housing development using prefabricated steel-framed systems to support rapid, affordable, and resilient residential construction under India’s PMAY programme.

Fairmont Shrem Mumbai – Shrem Airport Hotels Pvt. Ltd. (India) 
A large-scale airport hotel and convention centre developed as a pre-engineered steel structure with multiple basement levels and ten storeys above ground.

Shristi Cargo Warehouse – Kirby Building Systems & Structures India Pvt. Ltd. (India) 
A pre-engineered steel air-cargo warehouse at Indira Gandhi International Airport designed to optimise construction speed, operational efficiency, and reduced embodied carbon.

Allianz Stadium – Aurecon, John Holland Group & Infrastructure NSW (Australia) 
A multi-use stadium defined by a lightweight steel roof combining mega-truss and diagrid systems to achieve long spans, full coverage, and material efficiency.

India’s Tallest Bungy Jump Tower, Rishikesh – M/s Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. (India)
A 75-metre steel tower with a long cantilevered boom, engineered using circular hollow sections, bracing, and cable systems to resist extreme wind and seismic loads.

Chekiye Church – ISB Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. (India) 
A landmark place of worship featuring a complex pre-engineered steel dome and arches that create a large-span, column-free auditorium through BIM-led steel design.

Japan National Stadium – Taisei Corporation (Japan) 
The main venue of the Tokyo 2020 Games, realised predominantly with repetitive steel framing and long-span cantilever truss roofs for efficiency and seismic performance.

Hospital Mater Dei Salvador – Zanettini Arquitetura (Brazil) 
A high-density hospital complex delivered through industrialised steel construction and vertical stacking to maximise functionality on a constrained rocky urban site.

SoFi Stadium – AISC (USA) 
A large-capacity stadium engineered with advanced steel seismic systems and the world’s largest double cable-net steel-supported roof, built largely below grade.

1915 Çanakkale Bridge – DL E&C / SK Ecoplant (Türkiye) 
The world’s longest steel suspension bridge, using high-performance steel towers, plates, and cables to achieve a 2,023-metre main span under extreme seismic demands.

Ngā Hau Māngere Bridge – McConnell Dowell, Aurecon, Eastbridge Ltd & Waka Kotahi (New Zealand) 
A pedestrian and cycling bridge featuring a steel arch and central deck, delivered through complex marine construction and innovative temporary works.

Varvsbron – Ramboll Sweden AB (SwedenEurope) 
A pedestrian and cycle bridge using a steel cable-supported system with leaning pylons, enabled by parametric design for structural efficiency and architectural clarity.

Excellence in Sustainability

BioPartner 5 – ECCS (Europe) 
A Paris-proof laboratory at Leiden Bio Science Park constructed using 165 tonnes of reused structural steel and designed for future disassembly, setting a benchmark for circular steel construction and low-carbon building.

Civic Administration Building – Adaptive Reuse of Existing Steel Framing – Beca (New Zealand) 
A landmark early steel-framed building in Auckland adaptively reused from civic offices into residential apartments, demonstrating the carbon benefits of retaining and repurposing existing structural steel.

Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle -AISC (USA) 
A net-zero certified arena in Seattle created by reusing a historic steel roof supported by extensive temporary steel framing, enabling a fully electrified, low-carbon venue built largely below grade in a high-seismic zone.

COVID-19 Surge Centre Medical Facility Project – Austruss / Manteena Project Team (Australia) 
A rapidly delivered COVID-19 surge medical facility in Canberra, built in just 36 days using light-gauge steel prefabrication and a modular, design-for-disassembly approach to enable rapid deployment, reuse, and reduced material waste.

POSCO INNOVILT Zero-Energy Villas – POSCO A&C (South Korea)
A trio of single-family homes in Songdo built entirely with lightweight steel frames and steel cladding systems, integrating BIPV and smart energy management to achieve fully electric, zero-energy residential construction.

Innovation of the Year

Albert Einstein Learning and Research Centre – Brafer Construções Metálicas S/A (Brazil) 
A precision-engineered steel grid-shell roof of overlapping glass domes creating a large open hall atop a multi-storey healthcare facility.

LUMA Tower – ECCS / Eiffage Metal (Europe) 
A complex steel and stainless-steel façade using parametric design to form a sculptural envelope and a large-span glazed rotunda.

PosMAC Barrier – MYSTECH, Inc. 
A corrosion-resistant steel barrier system that captures rainwater and provides passive underground irrigation to support urban trees and resilience.

Quadshore Temporary Propping System – Monash University & Coates (Australia) 
A lightweight, high-strength steel propping system with boltless connections enabling faster, safer and more sustainable temporary works.

Rainier Square – Wright Runstad & Company et al. (United States) 
A high-rise project showcasing SpeedCore, a prefabricated steel–concrete core system that significantly accelerated construction delivery.

Judges for all three categories:

  • Prof Asif Usmani, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • Prof Brian Uy, UNSW Sydney, Australia
  • Prof Guo-Qiang LI, Tongji University, China
  • Prof Milan Veljkovic, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
  • Prof Oswaldo Baião, Director, Costa Baião Engenharia, Brazil
  • Prof Richard Liew, National University of Singapore
  • Prof Siddartha Ghosh, IIT Bombay, India
  • Prof Taichiro Okazaki, Hokkaido University, Japan
  • Prof Thomas Gernay, Johns Hopkins, USA
  • Prof Yujin Nam, Pusan National University, S. Korea

Entries are solicited through national and regional steel construction associations. A stringent judging process is followed, with the constructsteel Global Advisory Committee (GAC) and the constructsteel Leadership Team assessing entries based on predefined performance criteria.

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Best Project of the Year

Winner:  Taisei Corporation

The Japan National Stadium (Japan)  

The Japan National Stadium was delivered as the main venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Designed under the concept of a “Stadium in Forest,” the project integrates architecture and landscape, combining large-scale infrastructure with a reduced visual impact on its urban surroundings. 

Steel played a central structural role, with approximately 39,000 tonnes used across the stands and roof. The primary structure consists of steel framing and concrete-encased steel (CES) members for raker beams, diagonal seating supports, and outer columns. These elements enable long spans, support the cantilevered roof, and accommodate the stadium’s stepped massing and inclined perimeter columns. 

The roof is formed by a system of 60-metre cantilever steel trusses arranged repetitively around the stadium, improving constructability and efficiency. Ring trusses connect the cantilever trusses, allowing the roof to act as a unified structural system under wind and seismic loads, while controlled cambering limits vertical deflections at the roof edges. 

 A hybrid steel–timber solution was adopted for the roof trusses, with steel resisting permanent and seismic loads and timber members contributing stiffness control and architectural expression. Combined with a Soft-First-Story seismic response control system and extensive prefabrication of CES elements, the project demonstrates advanced use of steel to deliver structural performance, construction efficiency, and architectural quality—earning it the Best Project of the Year award. 

Excellence in Sustainability

Winner: POSCO

INNOVILT Zero-Energy Villas (South korea) – POSCO A&C

POSCO INNOVILT Zero-Energy Villas are three single-family homes located within the Jack Nicklaus golf-course community in Songdo, Incheon, designed as a demonstrator for sustainable, steel-based residential construction. The villas showcase an integrated architectural and engineering approach that combines high-performance steel systems with zero-energy design principles. 

Each villa is built using lightweight steel frames, steel deck plates, and steel-based exterior and interior cladding, replacing conventional concrete and timber construction. Stone-pattern steel façade panels and inkjet-printed PosART steel interiors deliver architectural quality while improving durability, recyclability, and construction precision through dry, industrialised building methods. 

Energy performance is central to the project, with building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), high-performance insulation, triple-glazed low-E windows, heat-recovery ventilation, and smart home energy management systems. The villas operate as fully electric homes and are designed to meet Korea’s highest Zero Energy Building (ZEB Level 1) certification, achieving full energy self-sufficiency. 

Conceived as a catalyst for wider adoption, the Zero-Energy Villas demonstrate how steel-based construction can enable scalable, low-carbon housing. The project supports POSCO INNOVILT’s broader vision of promoting sustainable steel solutions across residential developments and accelerating the transition to environmentally responsible housing communities. 

 

Innovation of the Year

Winner: Monash University & Coates

Quadshore Temporary Propping System (Australia)

Quadshore is an innovative structural propping system that redefines how temporary works are designed, assembled and deployed on construction sites. Conceived to overcome the limitations of conventional heavy, low-capacity props, the system introduces a new approach centred on lightweight design, high structural efficiency and simplified site operations.

Developed through a targeted R&D partnership between Monash University and Coates, Quadshore applies advanced engineering, finite-element modelling and full-scale testing to deliver a certified, market-ready solution. Its design makes effective use of high-strength steel through hybrid components, achieving significantly higher capacity-to-weight ratios than traditional systems.

Innovation is further realised through Quadshore’s boltless, modular connections, which eliminate consumable fixings and dramatically simplify assembly and disassembly. Compared with conventional propping systems of equivalent capacity, installation times are reduced by at least 40%, improving safety, reducing manual handling risks and enabling deployment in constrained urban sites where heavy lifting equipment may be impractical.

By combining structural performance, speed of installation and efficient use of steel, Quadshore delivers measurable gains in productivity, safety and sustainability. Reduced material demand, fewer components on site and lower transport and handling requirements translate into cost savings and a reduced carbon footprint, establishing Quadshore as a benchmark innovation in temporary works design.