Award of Merit - Renovation/Restoration
This was an historic renovation of a 105-year-old, Missouri Electric Light & Power Co. plant into a 58,072-sq-ft, high-tech office space.
Shortly prior to starting construction, the owner decided to add an underground parking structure in the building. This required excavating down 13 ft inside the two buildings and removing unforeseen conditions.
As crews removed the thick concrete slabs and concrete structures below grade, they took the necessary measures to ensure that they did not vibrate the masonry structure to the point of failure.
As a result of this demolition, the contractor recycled 19,180 tons of concrete.
The excavation and demolition inside the buildings had to be completed in a confined space. The contractor avoided air toxicity problems through planning and creating voluminous air flow through mechanical means.
Another challenge was removing the structural wall between the 1889 and 1891 buildings and leaving only the 3 ft by 3 ft pilasters on 20 ft centers, which carried the load of the large span metal trusses.
Removing the majority of the wall made the two separate buildings look as one.
Several engineering designs for the demolition work were submitted and reviewed before deciding which design was best and safest.
Key Players
Developer/Owner: Paradowski Creative, St. Louis
GC: HBD Construction Inc., St. Louis
Architect: Nehring Design, St. Louis
Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers, St. Louis
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