If only these walls could talk

Collman & Karsky does much of its work in coastal Florida, designing mission-critical facilities that are hurricane-hardened, meaning they’re resistant to high winds, flooding, and the impact of large airborne missile debris—flying chunks of wood and metal, even whole pieces of rooftop HVAC equipment. For one recent project, a renovation of the Sarasota Emergency Data Center, Collman & Karsky used Wellbilt’s Sure-Board Wall Panel, a modular, panelized wall system, to create a bunker able to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.

Karsky says the product was very clean and easy to install and required no cutting of floor slabs. “We were on an extremely tight time frame, and because it was modular, the walls could be set up quickly, allowing the other trades to come in and start working.” The modular system also cost “a little bit less” compared to concrete block or poured-in-place concrete, he says.

Hasan S. Arouri, PE, principal and senior structural project engineer for TLC Engineering for Architecture in Orlando, also attests to the benefits of the Wellbilt system: “The panels are tested and certified as hurricane-resistant, impact-resistant, and blast-resistant products, adequate and cost-effective to provide additional protection and strength for buildings located in high-velocity hurricane zones.”

TLC used them to harden the walls of the Florida Supreme Court Building in Tallahassee. Arouri says the technology provided a lightweight solution that strengthened the existing walls, enhancing their capacity to resist lateral hurricane wind pressures and providing blast-wall protection without the need for a lot of additional footings. The panels also allowed the building’s historic façade to be preserved.

Samuel S. Unger, RA, MCR, SLCR, MBA, is the Americas Real Estate Leader for Ernst & Young, LLP, Atlanta. He also serves as president of the CoreNet Global Atlanta chapter. In addition to managing 6.8 million square feet of real estate in North and South America, his responsibilities include real estate strategy for area practices, management of external professional alliances, requirements definition, business case development and approval, real estate negotiation and lease development, and oversight of construction projects for the portfolio. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, an MLA and MArch from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from Temple University.