Photo courtesy The Foram Group

A recent aerial view of Brickell Financial Centre.

Says Cesari: “On the podium, we’ve got conventionally reinforced slabs in certain areas; we’ve got a precast joist system for the parking decks and other areas; structural steel that wraps a concrete core in the office; and then a typical post-tensioned slab system in the hotel. Trying to marry up and coordinate all of the structural systems coming together on the project (has been a challenge).”

Suffolk maintains a full-time CAD operator that focuses exclusively on coordinating all of the various systems, Cesari adds.

Brickell Financial Centre The Foram Group is the developer of the Brickell Financial Centre project, also heading toward completion in Miami’s Brickell district. John Moriarty & Associates of Hollywood, Fla., is the general contractor for the approximately $150-million project. The 40-story, Class-A office tower’s frame features a hybrid structural design of concrete and steel. A concrete core centers the structure from its base to its roof. The first 12 floors feature post-tensioned reinforced concrete floor slabs. From floor 12 on, the balance of the framing is structural steel. The building’s core and shell was “pre-certified” under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program. The project team hopes to obtain a minimum of Silver LEED certification upon completion.

Loretta Cockrum, founder, chairman and CEO of Foram Group, commented previously on the decision to go green on this project. “The long-term cost of operations and long-term benefit of this design and these materials will have a payback,” Cockrum stated. “It was a combined business decision and social decision. Business was the driver.”