Aramco was honored last week by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) for excellence in the construction of the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC). The company was announced as the first place winner in the Decorative Concrete category on Tuesday night at the ACI’s 2020 virtual Convention Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards session.
The awards event, which was held virtually this year, honors the visions of creative projects throughout the global concrete design and construction community. They recognize concrete projects at the forefront of innovation and technology and highlight these projects to inspire excellence in concrete design and construction.
Creativity and innovation
The ACI Excellence in Concrete Construction is a prestigious award that recognizes concrete projects at the forefront of innovation and technology, and showcases these projects to inspire excellence in concrete design and construction around the world. ACI recognizes project winners across various award categories from low-rise, mid-rise, high-rise, infrastructure, repair and restoration, to decorative concrete.
The company’s nomination of projects to this prestigious award started in 2019 by Engineering Services as an initiative to promote excellence in the local construction industry in collaboration with Project Management and with the ACI Saudi Arabian Chapter. Winning the award is recognition by the construction industry for innovation and creativity in projects executed by Aramco.
We are pleased to receive this prestigious award in recognition of Aramco’s creativity and innovation in developing and executing complex industrial and infrastructure projects.
— Ahmad A. Al Sa’adi, Aramco senior vice president of Technical Services
KAPSARC is a premier, globally recognized center for energy and environmental research and policy studies. The center covers an area of 70,000 m2, and includes five buildings, namely the Energy Knowledge Center, the Energy Computer Center, the Conference Center Auditorium, the Research Library, and Musalla.
The design concept of the center is a cellular, partial modular system that integrates different buildings as a single assembly with interconnecting public spaces. The main building consists of a basement and three floors of a concrete framed structure. The building envelop consists of a steel structure covered by glass fiber reinforced concrete cladding panels and glazing.
This engineering masterpiece employs a variety of sustainable building techniques and advanced technologies and has achieved LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
These awards are shared by the project’s partners, including architecture and design firm ZAHA-HADID, ARUP Engineering, general and concrete contractor Drake & Scull International, and concrete suppliers Al Kifah, ETE, and Saudi Ready mix, and the ACI Saudi Arabian Chapter for tremendous support and collaboration endorsing the nomination.
