Perched on a delicate site and hemmed in on three sides, the University of Utah’s HELIX building has declared its independence.
The 259,000-sq-ft office complex sits on 45-ft-long specialized piles to avoid placing any weight on the ground beneath. A previously installed shoring system had built up the site’s grade to match the surrounding area, but the ground can’t support additional loads, especially a new 12,000-ton building.