Thornton Tomasetti’s Joseph and Choi to co-chair the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s Outrigger Design Working Group

Thornton Tomasetti Irvine Principal Leonard Joseph, P.E., S.E. and New York Senior Principal Hi Sun Choi, P.E., LEED AP have been named co-chairs of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s Outrigger Design Working Group. The working group, which also includes co-chairs Neville John Mathias from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Dr. Goman Wai-Ming Ho from Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong, is currently developing the first-ever outrigger system design guide, which will provide an overview of the history, design considerations and recommendations for outrigger systems. It is expected that the guide will be published in 2012.

The design guide will describe in detail the application of outriggers within the lateral load resisting systems of tall buildings, effects on building behavior and recommendations for design. It will also address concerns specific to this structural system such as differential column shortening and construction sequence impacts.

The document will illustrate the impact of outrigger systems on tall building designs and demonstrate ways in which the technology of such systems is continuously advancing. Project examples will be presented for various types of outrigger systems. BD+C

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Fire-rated glass floor system study area. Photo: courtesy TGP

Fire-rated glass floor system captures light in science and engineering infill

In implementing Northwestern University’s Engineering Life Sciences infill design, Flad Architects faced the challenge of ensuring adequate, balanced light given the adjacent, existing building wings. To allow for light penetration from the fifth floor to the ground floor, the design team desired a large, central atrium. One potential setback with drawing light through the atrium was meeting fire and life safety codes.