3 tower/650 room hotel
5 tower/650,000 sf office building
100 foot glass atrium
3 level subterranean parking
A high-rise landmark on the San Diego skyline, this multi-tiered and multi-towered, 788,000 square foot mixed-use center challenged our creativity to achieve its unique configuration. Eight hexagonal pods make up the center with a common 3 level below grade parking structure.
The office tower, a steel structure, has five pods ranging in height from 15 to 30 stories. The hotel, a concrete structure with a steel addition of five stories, consists of three pods ranging from 21 to 19 stories. A 100 foot, three story glass-enclosed atrium housing lobbies, restaurants, and retail shops, links the towers architecturally and functionally.
In addition to providing structural engineering for the project, our firm was retained to perform a wind study to determine glass and cladding wind pressures, structural frame loads and the wind flow environment at pedestrian levels around the building. The wind tunnel test was performed both with and without a proposed complex across the street. Historical wind data in the area combined with wind tunnel tests resulted in forces which were significantly less than those prescribed in the building code. These wind pressures resulted in a structural system and curtain wall that were optimized for the project and cost significantly less than conventional designs.
