A major leisure project has been honoured in the Stellar design category at the American Institute of architecture’s (AIA) annual celebration of innovation in architecture.

The Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP) Innovation Awards honour designers and researchers who have created new practices and technologies to improve the construction and maintenance of buildings.

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture won the design prize for their masterplan of Astana Expo City 2017, which is currently under construction. The concept of the expo, and the host city’s design, is ‘Future energy,’ and the architects impressed the TAP judges for their commitment to finding ways to achieve qualitative changes in the energy sector, primarily for the development of alternative sources of energy and transportation.

Buildings in Astana will integrate high-performance glazing; energy piles that will reduce energy demand and provide temperature modulation during winter; emergency energy storage; and rainwater harvesting. Around 90 per cent of waste generated on site will be diverted from landfill.

"This project is innovative in energy and resource conservation,” commented the jury. “Design indicators show the complexity of this project from interoperability, optimisation of form, and performance.

“Workflow analysis, performance metrics and long term outlook – as demonstrated here – are the way we should work everyday. There is impressive use and integration of a number of technologies by a very large team to deliver a quality project in a short amount of time.”

An honourable mention was given to Cunningham Group for their design of Deep Space; the world’s largest sub-surface auditorium. The 11,400-seat underground event space is located on the Epic Systems Corporation campus in Wisconsin. It was created below the surface of the earth to preserve expansive pastoral views of the surrounding landscape. The six-acre green roof covers six acres and the project was built in just 29 months.