Arup has bagged six awards at the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) Structural Excellence Award 2023, including three Grand Awards.

Hong Kong Palace Museum

Hong Kong Palace Museum won the top award in the Hong Kong non-residential projects category. In collaboration with Rocco Design Architects Associates Ltd, Arup provided total engineering consultancy services for this 7-storey treasure house for Chinese art, culture and history.

The design of the reinforced concrete structure was fundamentally affected by the need for minimal vertical structure in the museum galleries and the atrium, which also rotated up through the height of the building. Further key challenges for the structural design were the building’s inclined façades and the architectural requirement for the building to be set-back at the museum’s main G/F entrance on the east perimeter. This set-back meant that the east perimeter columns could not continue down to the foundations and resulted in the need for steel-concrete composite cantilever transfer trusses between 4/F and R/F from which these columns hung.

Admiralty Station extension, Hong Kong

The Admiralty Station extension was honoured with the Grand Award in the Infrastructures & footbridges (Hong Kong) category. Located in the heart of Hong Kong, the station connects four existing railway lines, becoming the largest interchange in the MTR network.

As the lead consultant providing multidisciplinary services, Arup adopted an innovative underpinning approach which allowed the construction team to excavate a depth of 45m and build three more platform levels underneath the existing station structure without affecting the normal services of the Island Line and Tsuen Wan Line.

 

DJI Sky City, Shenzhen

DJI Sky City received the highest accolade in the Mainland/Overseas projects category. Designed as a ‘floating community in the sky’, the development comprises two towers of 213m and 195m tall connected by a floating bridge. Each tower boasts six blocks suspended from the central core.

Arup’s structural design plays a key role in realising the radical architectural form and floating blocks. The building is equipped with a light structure relying on the core, the only structural element that goes all the way to the ground and basement. This allows the blocks to be hanged with the floor plates suspended from the top diagonal elements tying the structure to the core.

Other winning projects include:

  • AIRSIDE, Hong Kong – Commendation Merit in the Hong Kong non-residential projects category

  • Taipei Performing Arts Center – Commendation Merit in the Mainland / Overseas projects category

  • Ruihong Tiandi Hall of the Sun, Shanghai – Finalist in the Mainland / Overseas projects category

Organised by the HKIE, the Structural Excellence Award aims at promoting excellence in structural engineering through the design and construction of buildings, infrastructures, research and application.