State Utility Provider Service Center

THE PROJECT:  Our team was charged with designing the ultimate disaster-resistant building, made to resist wind gusts up to 226 mph, as well as the impact of speeding debris. As it relates to the structural performance of the building, the client assured construction quality by far exceeding code or municipally required inspections. They employed a continuous and rigorous structural inspection program of their own, executed by the structural engineer of record.

OUR SOLUTION:  We designed the nearly impenetrable envelope with carefully specified wall panels, doors, windows and mechanical openings. All these elements were designed and manufactured for wind pressures up to 135 PSF. The wall panels (each weighing as much as 88K lbs) are comprised of 9 1/4” thick concrete panels and reinforced with two massive mats of reinforcing steel. 

The roof structure is a network of steel joists supporting a thick normal-weight concrete slab that continues the hardened envelope throughout the roof. Each joist is welded to the exterior concrete panels and the interior steel girders to resist net uplift forces as high as 12,000 pounds.