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Greater New York’s Team 8 Takes First Place in National Design Competition

Thanks to its hard work and creativity, Team 8 from the ACE Mentor Program of Greater New York is the winner of the 2009 CIRT–ACE Mentor Program of America Design Competition.

A relatively young group, the team is comprised of 14 bright and inspired students, mostly sophomores and juniors, from various high schools throughout New York City’s five boroughs. Led by Abdul Tabbara of WSP Flack + Kurtz, the team’s mentors are architecture, construction and engineering professionals from such prominent organizations as the New York City Department of Design and Construction, the New York City School Construction Authority, GZA GeoEnviromental, and S. DiGiacomo & Son, Inc.

The team’s journey to the top began when it chose to design the London 2012 Olympics Stadium as its ACE program project. At the time, the team was unaware of the Construction Industry Round Table’s (CIRT’s) national competition. Coincidentally, one of the options for that competition was also to design a stadium for the 2012 event. Since Team 8 was already working in that direction, the members decided to enter the competition.

As is the case with many real-life projects, several challenges lay ahead, especially the time constraint. Yet, within a month, the students had significantly researched past Olympic stadiums (with an emphasis on The Bird’s Nest in Beijing), the history of London, London architecture, types of engineered systems, sustainable design, and the rules and guidelines for the Olympic Games.

In addition, the team visited both the new and old Yankee Stadiums, where they learned about stadium seating, mechanical rooms, sky boxes and the latest stadium telecommunications technologies.

In fact, technology also played a key role in the students’ success. Though they lived throughout New York City, the students communicated their ideas to each other instantly by posting research notes, sketches, ideas, and suggestions on a team-created internet blog site. This ensured that all members had the most up-to-date information, stayed connected, and could work on the project continuously throughout the design process.

During development, the students chose “a floating jewel” as their design theme. This, the students felt, encapsulated both the Olympic spirit and the culture of the host country.

The students aptly named the stadium Cullinan III, a reference to the crown jewels of the Royal British Collection and two of the biggest diamonds in the world, Cullinan I and Cullinan II. The team described Cullinan III as a combination of two bold motifs: the gravity-defying feats on exhibit at the Olympics and London’s British culture. As the students explained, “This stadium is to be presented as the latest addition to the royal collection of crown jewels.”

To meet the design competition’s deadline, the team dedicated most of its time to the project, including extended meeting sessions, weekends, winter break and holidays.

Their hard work paid off. First, Cullinan III was selected as one of the top three designs at the national level, along with those by teams from Nashville, TN and Hawaii. That earned the team the right to participate in the CIRT-ACE national presentation in Washington, D.C.

On presentation day, one student from each team presented the team’s design and answered the judges’ questions. Since all of the teams were well prepared, the competition was close. Explaining that choosing the best “gets tougher each year,” the judges deliberated for 45 minutes before announcing that Team 8 was the national winner. “It has been a great journey and a memorable lifetime experience for both students and mentors,” said Tabbara.