Three SOM projects have been honored in The Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design Awards, an annual program that celebrates innovative architecture, installations, and building elements designed across North America. Stereoform Slab won in the Digital Fabrication category, Billie Jean King Main Library won in the Institutional – Libraries category, and Brightline received an honorable mention in the Infrastructure category.
Stereoform Slab is a pavilion that replicates and abstracts a single-story concrete bay found in high-rise construction to create a simple architectural expression. Removed from its typical context, the structure exemplifies how digital fabrication using advanced robotics can be leveraged in the building industry to minimize waste and reduce carbon. The pavilion was designed by SOM’s interdisciplinary research team, and realized through industry partnerships with McHugh Construction, Sterling Bay, Odico Construction Robotics, and Autodesk.
Billie Jean King Main Library is more than a traditional library of decades past. Positioned at the heart of Downtown Long Beach, the mass timber building features an expansive wood-framed “porch” that greets the community and Douglas fir-clad interiors that unify architecture and structure. The library welcomes more than 1,000 daily visitors and offers a rich program of activities and amenities, such as a makerspace and veterans’ resource center.
Brightline leverages 235 miles of existing railroad tracks to connect South Florida to Central Florida by high-speed rail. It is the only privately owned, operated, and maintained project of its kind in the United States, and its first three stations—located in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach—were each planned and designed by SOM in association with Zyscovich Architects.