In order to align with the architectural features of the building, which included an interior plant/greenery space near the main staircase, I chose a wood framing structural system for the building. A grid system that lined up with the edges of the structure was set up, and intermediate gridlines were placed to line up with any other walls in the space and distributed with an approximate 25 ft span maximum. The building was mostly an open system, with many of the spaces being connected. To keep the openness of the space, the fewest number of columns were used for the structural system. Girders were placed on the grid system from column to column. The beam system was spaced evenly, with an approximate 6 ft distance between each beam. Since the beams would need to take less load than the girders, a smaller size was chosen for the beams. For consistency and ease of construction, the column, girder, and beam sizes were kept constant throughout the structure, although adjustments could be made in the fine-tuning process.
Openings for the staircases were considered as well, and adjustments to the structural system were made accordingly. No columns interfere with these spaces, and girders/beams frame around the openings.
There are larger open spaces that exceeded the 25 ft span length, which required column placements in the space. However, the choice of a wood column still reflects the feel of the building, which doesn’t interrupt the space too much.
