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THE PROJECT: A newly constructed combined resort and residence community in Nassau, Bahamas required a sales center for prospective guests and residents, envisioned as a bold architectural statement and strategically positioned as a gateway to the beach. Entirely glass clad, the facility is intended to utilize operable glazing to capture island sea breezes for natural ventilation through much of the year, necessitating a high level of glazing support coordination between architecture, structure, and the specific requirements of the selected glazing system. This building form is composed of a 2-story building with a larger second level, surpassing the footprint of the ground level, to create a statement cantilevered relationship between floors. A complex monumental steel-framed mono-stringer stair, showcased within a glass enclosed tower, provides access to an occupiable rooftop gathering space. The coastal environment and hurricane-prone region resulted in significant hazard considerations within the structural design, challenging the design team to integrate the necessary structural reliability with the desired architectural vision.
OUR SOLUTION: To achieve this architecturally driven design, while also accommodating material preferences and construction practices on an island site, the structural design utilizes a system of imported structural steel framing from the United States with confined concrete masonry construction to cater to local labor expertise. Our solution incorporates steel transfer elements at all framing lines to achieve the desired overhang above the ground level, and open moment frame components to maintain open views of the ocean and companion resort amenities through the glass cladding, while also provided the lateral stiffness to supplement the limited quantity of CMU walls provided in a high wind area. A pile-supported grade beam foundation system provides resiliency for coastal flood considerations. Iteration of architectural concepts for location, layout, and form of the monumental stair element resulted in multiple designs considered by the owner and client, arriving at a mono-stringer arrangement utilizing an architecturally exposed tube steel with steel and wood steps, the analysis of which was challenged to minimize the overall stringer size while also achieving acceptable accelerations and vibrations for building occupants during the expected group-descent loading conditions from the public gathering spaces at the roof.
