In commemoration of the lives lost on 9/11, Pentagon Renovation & Construction ran a design competition to build a fitting memorial. Thousands of entries were received and New York-based KBAS Architects won. Their winning design arranged 184 memorial units, each dedicated to an individual victim, in a garden setting. Each unit consists of a fluid-form bench cantilevering over a reflecting pool, illuminated from below to catch and reflect the light.

Titanium was chosen as the material for the structure of the benches. The critical challenge was to reduce the volume of titanium necessary for the construction while maintaining structural integrity and performance. Our engineers analysed the original model using Finite Element software, then embarked on an iterative process of analysis with KBAS, resulting in a reduction in total mass of each unit from 3,300lb to 1,000lb.