The Era

The Era is an 8-story residential community composed of adjoining apartment structures separated by expansion joints to create a combined ~420,000 sf apartment complex with 400 units. Residential levels are stacked over a mixed-us ground level ground floor with amenity and commercial areas. A pre- stablished selection of unit plans available to the design team in the layout of the building was a design consideration up front, accomplished through the use of tunnel-formed concrete construction for economy at the upper levels with transfer framing at the first elevated level with beams below the bearing wall locations supporting units above, facilitating open areas at the ground level for lobby, recreation/gym, and restaurant spaces. Upper level double-height clubroom amenity spaces create load path challenges, resolved through a simple solution of raised floor areas to facilitate consistency in the unit height below while allowing for increased structure depths, as well as insulation requirements at exterior balcony/terrace area over units below. A signature radial front corner provides an architectural statement accommodated through the flexibility of a concrete framed system that interacts with the typical concrete system to avoid unnecessary trade interaction.

Complimentary structures on this campus include a precast parking garage and miscellaneous courtyard structures for pool-related amenities. The ~186,000 sf precast concrete parking garage is constrained in depth with floor-to-floor dimensions for compatibility with the residential building, and further constrained in plan by adjacent underground easements. The plan challenges necessitated studies into foundation solutions at challenge areas to arrive at intentionally designed and detailed offset foundation systems to accommodate the loads of the parking garage above while facilitating future flexibility in the excavation of the neighboring easement. The courtyard structures consist of concrete framed single-story elements with the signature curves and arches to reinforce the architectural style of the community as a whole.