STEEL STRUCTURE-

STUDY

ADITI MANOJ
OPPORTUNITIES
WITH STEEL
Steel provides architects the
flexibility to express or conceal
a building's structural frame,
either externally or internally,
and can help facilitate the
artistic expression the client
desires.

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 Steel is a wonderfully expressive construction
material that excels where the client brief
creates opportunities for:
 lightweight design: leading to reduced load on
foundations and the ability to retrofit floors onto
existing buildings
 long-span solutions: taking advantage of steel’s
incredible stiffness and strength-to-weight ratiof
 flexible repurposed solutions: where the client
requires the building or structure to have a flexible
layout for future repurposing
 Architecturally exposed structural steelwork: to
stimulate visually or provide a signature look

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 Architects will appreciate the opportunities for
architectural expression in steel illustrated in
these projects, such as the:
 clear expression of function enabled by externally
exposed steel structure
 use of tubular members to provide efficient design with
aesthetically slender members
 flexibility of openings in members, which can be used to
accentuate ‘lightness’ or to accommodate services
 easy forming of curved members
 structural efficiency of tension members, particularly for
long-span enclosures
 ability to design connections as ‘architectural statements’
with refined detailing
 flexibility of managing fire resistance of exposed
steelwork, utilizing intumescent coatings, concrete filling
or water filling (of tubular sections)
 visual effect enabled through color and finish of coating
steelwork, through painting, galvanizing 4or other
proprietary finishes.
NASCAR HALL OF FAME, CHARLOTTE,
N.C
• Curving, sloped forms are evocative not only of
the dynamic and changing sinuous shape of
the racetrack but also of the perception of
speed, which is at the heart of the NASCAR
spectacle.
• The expression of these forms could only have
been achieved through the use of steel, as
cladding and as structure, encompassing
several long-span elements, architecturally
exposed structural steel (AESS) elements, and
employing innovative approaches to
connections, steel detailing, and the interface
of structural steel with stone, glass, and steel
as a finish material
BARCLAYS CENTER, BROOKLYN, N.Y. CITY CREEK CENTER
RETRACTABLE ROOF, SALT LAKE
CITY
• The iconic feature of the of the
• Retractable, barrel-vaulted roof is
arena is the weathered Cor-ten
configured in two sections, each
steel lattice that wraps around the
spanning one city block. Each section
structure.
is 240 ft. long and 58 ft. wide, with an
• Rows of steel panels envelop the
S-shape that echoes the curve of the
exterior including an entrance
signature City Creek.
canopy that cantilevers 85 feet over
• The precision-sculpted steel and
the plaza. The facade design with
glass transparently shields patrons
12,000 pre-weathered steel panels
when closed, and disappears from
and the canopy were added
sight when open; connecting nature
• 1,000 tons of steel was added to
with the areas below
support the facade, which also
became a prominent design feature. 5
SOLAR CANOPY, CHICAGO
The Solar Canopy is an 11-foot-tall
prototype structure consisting of 6,000
pounds of architecturally exposed
structural steel (AESS). It is designed
to harvest solar energy for use in
powering electric/hybrid vehicles
MERIT AWARD: POMONA NATIONAL AWARD: DENVER
COLLEGE, STUDIO ART HALL, UNION STATION, DENVER
CLAREMONT, CALIF.
The art hall’s arching steel and wood The structure is a rational
roof appears to float above the response to a series of
building, mimicking the ebb and flow programmatic requirements and
of the surrounding mountains. To constraints. The result is a steel-
create an undulating shape, most of and-fabric canopy that rises 70 ft
the steel used in the roof’s framing at the head-end platform,
was set at 45-degree angles with descends in a dynamic sweep to
respect to the column grids 22 ft at the center
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THANK
YOU!