Albertine Van Marcke- your overall strategy and the features of the structural system:
The floor layout is rectangular and relatively regular. The grid lines are placed at 20’ and 25’ distances, except for E and F due to the dimensions (~109’ 7”).
The walls were adjusted in the architectural model to accommodate for these grid lines and to make sure that the columns would coincide with the architectural walls.
- The material and framing system selected
Timber framing was chosen, as this has the lowest embodied carbon. The figure below shows ways to reduce the embodied carbon of timber frames. The secondary beam spacing reduction (i.e. introducing more secondary beams) leads to smaller sections, so does reducing the column grid spacing.
The columns and beams are Glulam, the dimensions were approximated by looking at reference projects (e.g. https://www.structuremag.org/?p=24114)
Component | Level 1-3 | Level 4 |
Columns | 10.5x15.125 | 8.5x11 |
Primary beams | 8.5x33 | 8.5x33 |
Secondary beams | 8.5x22 | 8.5x22 |
The floors are kept as LW concrete on metal deck, but a CLT ceiling finish can be applied.
Concrete footings are added at the end of the columns.
- The locations of structural columns and major framing elements
- any special structural challenges
A truss system was added around the atrium
