Working links to both Arch and Stru models in Forma Data Management.
Architectural:
Structural:
Working link to your Individual Forma Board
PDF sheet set of Structural Plans, 30 by 42 inches (E1 size)
Classified clash report with counts.
Design memo of 300 to 400 words: which system and why, where the grid fought your architecture, what you changed in the architectural model.
System
I selected a cast-in-place concrete podium (24x24 columns on spread footings, 24x30 beams, 30x48 transfer girders) with seven stories of steel (W14X109 columns, W18 girders, 8K1 joists on composite deck). There are also two 8-inch concrete cores that take the lateral load. In addition, the concrete gives the retail level fire separation and transfer capacity, while the light steel above keeps foundation loads modest.
Where the grid fought my architecture
Initially, I had snapped my grid to the façade and the demising lines. The first clash run showed that 145 of 318 column pieces landed in places that were harmful to the objective of the building, such as windows, balcony doors or storefront, and the cores cut through doors and a stair. I chose to move the structure instead of the façade, since the openings make the building work and columns are easier to shift.
I marked every window, door swing, storefront, stair, elevator and shaft as a no-go zone up the full height of the building. Then I gave each column stack the smallest fix that cleared all of them:
- Slide along the façade (34 stacks, median 3.75 ft) into a solid pier. I capped edge spans at 38 ft and upsized the nine longest beams to W18x55.
- Pull 3–8 ft inside (11 stacks) where no pier lines up on every floor, with the girder cantilevering to the slab edge.
- Remove and cantilever (6 stacks) where a corridor column already sat 5–8 ft behind.
- Slide into a partition (7 interior stacks) to clear unit doors.
The steel columns land on the podium, which needed four new transfer beams. There were also three columns that were so close to the cores that their footings overlapped, so each core now sits on one 36-inch mat with its neighbours. No column touches a window, door, stair, shaft or elevator. I also moved the east core wall 3 in to clear the stair and cut 24 openings for doors and windows.
Clash results
I found 366 clashes. 354 were normal conditions, like beams on partitions and columns through ceilings, and I closed them as valid. The other 12 are the architect’s duplicate core walls, tracked as Issue #5. Issues #1–#4 are closed. The final run found 7 more, where the new mats meet the ground slab and grading just like any footing. The only open item is Issue #5.