July 20, 2017

(Chicago, IL) – The Los Angeles Valley College Monarch Center in Valley Glen, Calif., has earned national recognition in the 2017 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel awards program (IDEAS²). In honor of this achievement, members of the project team will be presented with awards from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) during a ceremony to take place at the building on Tuesday, July 25, at 1:30 p.m.

“A vibrant and uplifting steel structure that takes full advantage of California’s climate and sunshine,” commented David G. Allen, space and facilities manager with the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, and the owner juror in the competition.

The Monarch Center is a new hub of activity on the Los Angeles Valley College campus. The dramatic, soaring architectural forms of this 41,000-sq.-ft student union showcase the versatility and elegance of structural steel as a building material. The U-shaped structure includes a health center, a cafeteria, a bookstore, a convenience store and administrative services, and the enclosed courtyard is topped with a sloping, butterfly-form canopy that reaches 41 ft above grade at its highest point.

 The project’s team members include:

• Owner: Los Angeles Community College District, Valley Glen, Calif.
• Owner’s Representative: BuildLACCD, Monterey Park, Calif.
• Architect and Structural Engineer: LPA, Inc., Irvine, Calif. (entered the project in the competition)
• General Contractor: McCarthy Building Companies Inc., Newport Beach, Calif.

The 13 IDEAS² winners for 2017 were chosen from nearly 100 submissions received from architectural and engineering and other project team member firms throughout the U.S. Each submission is reviewed and award winners are selected by a nationally recognized panel of design and construction industry professionals.

The IDEAS² award dates back more than 50 years with AISC. And about this year’s winning student center, Charlie Carter, SE, PE, PhD, president of AISC, said, “The beauty of this project is its lightness as the soaring elements of the building span and define great spaces inside and out. It’s the perfect storm of steel capability, design inspiration and construction perfection.”

Members of the media may request high-resolution images of the project by contacting AISC’s Tasha Weiss at 312.670.5439 or weiss@aisc.org. For more information about the IDEAS² awards and to view all of this year’s winners, please visit www.aisc.org/ideas2. Entries for the 2018 competition are due by October 6, 2017.

Photo by Costea Photography, Inc.