LINN Energy awarded WBA the new 5-story build-to-suit project but with a unique design feature. Not many class-A office buildings across the country have over 2-story tilt-up walls, but LINN Energy decided that is precisely what they wanted to challenge.
WBA was able to design the new building with 5-story tilt-up walls. Why is this such a unique design feature? Imagine a piece of paper in front of you and lift it from one end. Notice that as you lift the paper, it folds. Typically you are able to cast tilt-up walls on the ground then lift them into place (2-story or less). When you go over 2-stories, the “bend” factor increases creating an engineering obstacle. WBA and LJB came together to design a way to overcome this obstacle and brought a Crawler (a special type of crane) on-site to lift the walls up. The 110,000 gsf class-A office building is still undergoing construction but so far it has been a complete success. It is slated for completion in November 2015.
In addition to the office building this project included master planning for two potential site locations to house one or two built-to-suite office buildings along with associated parking components.
Project Team:
LJB – Structural Engineer
IA Naman – MEP Engineers
Wakefield Beasley & Associates – Architect