By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX
The 13th annual Phoenix Canstruction Design and Build event took place on August 17th through 23rd, resulting in a donation of nearly 64,000 pounds of non-perishable food for St. Mary’s Food Bank.
Easily one of the most creative ways for local A/E/C firms to give back to the community in a meaningful way, Canstruction Phoenix invites design and construction firms to dream up, design, and build a structure made entirely of canned food, where the only constraint is the size: it must fit within a 10’ x 10’ x 10’ space. The completed can-structures are displayed at the Phoenix Convention Center until the end of the event.
Eleven teams participated this year, which is on par with previous years. Meeting monthly for up to six months beforehand, the committee arranges sponsors and display space at a public venue, and coordinates team participation and much more.
This year’s teams included:
- kW Mission Critical Engineering
- DWL/Sundt/Coreslab/Caruso Turley Scott/Jensen Hughes
- Holder Construction/Gensler/PK Associates/IMEG Corp/RLB
- Devenney Group/Kitchell
- Kiewit
- CVL Consultants
- Kimley-Horn/DLR Group/McCarthy Building Companies
- Meyer Borgman Johnson Structural Engineers/Shepley Bulfinch/AEI/McCarthy Building Companies
- Y. Lin International/Coffman
- Whiting-Turner/DAVIS
- Hensel Phelps
Each team raises the money to purchase the food. While participating firms provide staff time and resources, the out of pocket cost of the food can be significant.
Firms that want to get involved next year can visit canstructionphx.com for more details.
Canstruction 2019 Winners:
- Best Use of Labels: The Emerald City (T.Y. Lin International, Coffman Specialties)
- Best Meal: Chasing Out Hunger to Infinity… and Beyond (Whiting-Turner, DAVIS)
- People’s Choice: Game Over Hunger (Devenney Group, Kitchell)
- Structural Ingenuity: Gotta Feed ‘em All (DWL, Sundt, Caruso Turley Scott, Jensen Hughes, Coreslab)
- Most Cans: Faces of Hunger (Holder, Gensler, PK Associates, IMEG, RLB)
- Best Original Design: Game Over Hunger (Devenney Group, Kitchell)