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BARRETT
STEEL LIMITED
Headline sponsors:
Gold sponsors: Ficep UK Ltd | National Tube Stockholders and Cleveland Steel & Tubes |
Peddinghaus Corporation | voestalpine Metsec plc | Wedge Group Galvanizing Ltd
Silver sponsors: Jack Tighe Ltd | Kaltenbach Limited | Tata Steel | Trimble Solutions (UK) Ltd
Bronze sponsors: AJN Steelstock Ltd | Barnshaw Section Benders Limited | British Steel | Hempel |
Joseph Ash Galvanizing | Jotun Paints | Sherwin-Williams | Tension Control Bolts Ltd |
Voortman Steel Machinery
July/Aug 19
Steel ready for new
digital challenges
The Structural Steel Design Awards (SSDA) celebrated 50 years of outstanding steel construction achievements last
year. Entering the second half of this first century, some may have wondered whether the Awards’ unrivalled quality
could be maintained.
The entries to this year’s Awards have now all been carefully scrutinised, a shortlist has been selected (see News),
and the answer to the quality question is an undoubted yes! It was a bumper crop of entries and the judges were
demanding as always, but they still selected no fewer than 20 steel projects as potentially worthy award winners.
A look at the shortlist immediately confirms that the SSDA is as relevant as ever, containing shining examples
of quality steelwork at the leading edge of modern construction. They are a diverse collection of construction
excellence. Among the 20 are a number of footbridges, steel structures on a bypass, and major multi-storey buildings
in Birmingham as well as in London. There are some high-profile leisure sector projects and, in what is surely a first for
the Awards, a seal hide in Middlesborough. Wimbledon No 1 Court’s new roof makes the shortlist, as does Tottenham
Hotspur’s new stadium.
As BCSA Director General Sarah McCann-Bartlett said announcing the shortlist, the structural steelwork sector has
evolved significantly in the past 50 years, but steel’s ability to deliver the most efficient and cost-effective solution
for a building or structure, while also providing practical, flexible and beautiful spaces, has been a constant. Winning
projects over the years have demonstrated engineering excellence, innovation and attention to detail; the same could
probably be said of all of the shortlisted projects over the years, but the judges do set the bar high for the ultimate
accolade of an SSDA prize.
The winning projects will be announced in October.
Looking ahead, changing demands on construction that couldn’t have been envisaged 50 years ago should assure
steel’s leading role in the provision of the UK’s built environment. Thanks to steel’s offsite capabilities the drive towards
modern methods of construction means steel is better placed than any alternative framing material to meet that
growing demand.
The digital landscape is constantly changing and steel is strongly placed to play a full role in new digital innovations.
Long association with CNC fabrication means steel is also well placed to respond to more complex levels of design for
manufacture and assembly. In short, the quality of the SSDA shortlist could be scaling new heights in years to come.
As Richard Fletcher, Managing Director of SSDA sponsor Trimble Solutions (UK) Ltd, said when welcoming the
shortlist, steel is at the forefront of technological advance in construction, delivering projects of high complexity
and scale through data driven design, manufacture, assembly and erection. The sector is well prepared for the push
towards digitalisation of the construction workflow.
Other challenges will undoubtedly arise for construction as the pace of modernisation picks up across all industries
that the steel sector will be expected to play its part in. On the evidence of this year’s SSDA shortlist, the response is
already underway.
Nick Barrett - Editor
For further information about steel construction and Steel for Life please visit
www.steelconstruction.info or www.steelforlife.org
Steel for Life is a wholly owned subsidiary of BCSA
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