Global design and engineering consulting firm Arup is the 35th recipient of the National Building Museum (NBM)’s Honor Award, the Washington, D.C.-based institution announced on May 11. Presented annually, the Honor Award celebrates the work of individuals and organizations that have significantly contributed to the development of culture and communities through design of the built environment. The London-founded multinational joins an impressive and diverse roster of recipients; prior awardees include Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which received its award virtually in 2021, Cindy and Jay Pritzker, the Rockefeller Family, Turner Construction Company, and the Urban Land Institute.
“Arup has long been at the forefront of the most ambitious and challenging design and engineering projects,” said Anthony Greenberg, chair of the NBM Board of Trustees and executive vice president of JBG SMITH, in a statement. “With an intense focus on sustainability and innovation, the firm’s commitment to solving the most pressing problems impacting communities across the globe is exemplary and deserving of such an honor.”
Arup will receive the award at an annual gala hosted by the NBM on June 16—the first in three years to be held in-person in the museum’s renovated Great Hall. During the event, the NBM will also reveal its vision to guide future work through its four Institutional Pillars–Equity, Environment, Innovation, and Wonder. “Arup’s work in Creating Sustainable Futures is at the heart of their purpose,” explained Aileen Fuchs, president and executive director of the National Building Museum. “This work directly aligns with all four of our Pillars, and this ethos, to make the world sustainable, drives both our institutions. Both Arup and the Museum are working to make a lasting and positive impact on the built world through our respective work.”
The announcement also kicks off a series of events co-hosted by Arup and the museum, starting on June 1: In the first installation of the NBM’s Climate ABC series, Arup’s Americas Region Chair Fiona Cousins and Climate Services and Sustainability Leader Robert Kay will co-host a virtual program with the museum on actionable solutions for sustainable development. On display in the museum from June 17 to August 19 will be Arup’s m|Lab, a roughly 9-foot-by-9-foot-by-8-foot mobile environment framed in Unistrut aluminum that harnesses VR and 3D audio technology to “demonstrate how decisions for a project’s different design iterations can be made using a virtual, first-hand experience,” per the museum. The content of the exhibit will focus on global climate action.
“As we reflect with pride on our work over the last 75 years, we also look forward to leveraging our skills, project work, and influence to meet the current challenges of climate change, social inequity and biodiversity, as we partner across the industry to create a more resilient world,” added Cousins.
