Ari One Patu
Overall my strategy with the structural framing of the build was to keep it simple. My form of a “U” allows for that, and so I took advantage of the simple geometry to produce very a vary standard column and beam system. My building’s floors cut back as you rise in elevation, so there are a few columns out of rhythm to adjust for the ends of these floor that are irregular in the normal column distancing. My primary beams run East/West along each floor with the secondary beams interconnected going North/South
The columns are standard W-shaped steel columns at a 10x49 size. My beams and beam systems are the same exact material at varying sizes. The building facade and shape is more of a modern look, so the decision to use steel a steel structural system as opposed to concrete or any other material felt very appropriate in the surrounding context.
My columns line the perimeter of each floor, with about 20 foot spacing in between columns in both directions for spaces with longer spans. The stairwell is void of columns, with the only columns visible to someone walking them along thee perimeter. While my columns have a structural use, I decided to leave the columns that shoot through the middle of the larger spaces in order to create some architecture out of them. This way the columns become a part of the both the internal and external experience of the space, and shape the space in a way that is suitable for art. I think of the Minnesota Street Project in SF when I envision the columns integration into the exhibit (below).
