Re-Imagined in New Haven
Structural ComplexitiesWith its staggered steel truss system, the tower requires no interior columns. Full story trusses span the width of the tower from north to south. The trusses are staggered such that a truss on one floor is placed between two trusses on the floor below.
Owner: Becker Development Associates, Fairfield, Conn., and Multi-Employer Property Trust, Washington, D.C.
Developer / Architect: Becker + Becker Associates, Fairfield, Conn.
Construction Manager: Suffolk Construction Co., Inc., Boston
Structural Engineers: DeSimone Consulting Engineers, New York
MEP Engineers: Cosentini Associates and LN Consulting, New York
Civil Engineers: Stantec Consulting Services, New York
Loft Building & Interiors: Deborah Berke & Partners Architects, New York
Landscape Architects: Towers | Golde, New Haven, Conn.
Geotech / Environmental Engineers: Haley Aldrich, Boston
Ornamenter: Bloome Studio, New Haven
LEED Consultant / Energy Modeling: Atelier Ten, New York
Building Envelope: Israel Berger & Associates, New York
Commissioning Consultant: Flack + Kurtz, New York
“The tower is more of a modified staggered truss,” Downing explains. Openings were punched through the trusses to create the corridors and the elevator core. Conventional steel framing on the upper floors at various locations accommodate the layouts for two and three bedroom units.
X-braces provide lateral bracing for the tower in the east-west direction. The four story double bay X-braces go up the center of the building and are visible behind the windows.
The number of structural systems and the aggressive schedule required a great deal of cooperation between team members. “On this project there were so many pieces and a lot of these were happening at the same time,” Pielli says. “It was a real effort on the engineering side and the coordination side with the subcontractors and ourselves to make it all happen.”
