2005 EMINENT CONCEPTOR AWARD
The one highest award given each year, the Eminent Conceptor Award, recognizes an engineering achievement which demonstrates a high degree of merit and ingenuity, contributes to the advancement of the private practice of engineering, and enhances the economic and social welfare of the general public.
STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
MCDONOUGH ASSOCIATES INC.
Millennium Park
Owner: City of Chicago
Consultants: Consultants: Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Terry Guen Design Assoc., OWP&P Architects, Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge, Muller & Muller, Krueck and Sexton Architects, URS, US Equities, Chicago; Carol JH Yetken, Oak Park; O'Brien & Assoc., Arlington Heights; Frank Gehry, Santa Monica, CA; Anish Kapoor, London, England; Renzo Piano-Paris, France/Genoa, Italy; Gustafson, Guthrie, Nichol, Ltd., Seattle, WA; Piet Oudolf, Hummelo, The Netherlands; Robert Israel, Los Angeles, CA; Jaume Plensa, Barcelona, Spain; Kenny Construction, Wheeling
McDonough Associates, in association with a team of consultants, was responsible for the initial study, the development of alternative concepts as well as the preparation of construction documents and construction engineering services for the development of the 24.5-acre Millennium Park.
The park design includes a performance venue with a music pavilion and bandshell (seating for 4,000) and artistic support spaces, lawn area with seating for 7,000, a 1,525-seat indoor performance theater, terraces, large group terraces, flower gardens, ice skating rink, fountains, public art, bike station with a capacity of 300, walkways, stairs, ramps, paving, landscaping, signage, lighting, park furniture, transit entry kiosks, refreshment and restroom facilities.
Additional engineering elements included modifications to the existing, neighboring parking garages; improvements to and expansion of the existing railroad facilities; necessary modifications to the existing Monroe Street Bridge; design of ventilation, lighting, fire protection and plumbing for indoor areas; design for the inclusion of a busway through the project site and new 2,200-car parking structure underlying and supporting the main park area. A unique combination of public and private funding allowed park amenities that would not have been possible with only City-funding
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