Building Statistics

General Building Information

Building Name                        "The Lofts"-Name Undisclosed by Owner

Location                                    Southeastern PA - Exact Location Undisclosed by Owner

Building Type                          Multifamily Apartment Building

Building Size                            450,000 sqft

Number of Stories                   5 Total (1st Floor Parking Garage) , Podium Style Building

Project Cost                              $45,500,000 GMP

Construction Duration           7/1/16 – 5/17/18

Project Delivery Method        CM @ Risk

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Project Team

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                   Construction Manager                                 Architect                         Structural Engineer 

 

 

 

 

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                            Interior Designer                                                                                                       Civil Engineer                   

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                                                                                       MEP Engineer

 

 

Architecture

The Lofts is a 5 story, "podium style" building; meaning the 

apartments sit 'on a podium', or in this case, the single story

apartment garage. The apartment building, whose floor plan can

be seen in the adjacent image, houses 231 individual units.

The area highlighted in blue on the plan showcases the actual

building whereas the area in green showcases the designed

green-roof courtyards. The Lofts is part of a much larger

development, so the courtyards were designed to act as a

private get away for the building occupants. 

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Applicable Codes & Zoning

2009 Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code

2009 International Building Code

2008 National Electric Code NFPA 70-208

2009 International Energy Conservation Code

2009 International Fire Code

2009 International Fuel Gas Code

2009 International Mechanical Code

2009 International Plumbing Code

2012 International Building Code-Chapter 11

1998 Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines

2010 ADA Accessibility 

Zoning : Montgomery County, Zoning Chapter 165

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Building Enclosure 

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Facade:

The exterior facade is composed of several different materials: a standard brick veneer, fiber cement boards, fiber cement panels, and fiber cement siding. The brick is mainly designed to encompass the parking garage whereas the fiber cement elements will be intertwined around the apartment building with small sections of brick. The east face of the building also utilizes storefront windows as the building is level with the adjacent street. 

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Roofing: 

The roofing utilized is a typical TPO membrane.

The roof detail can be seen in the adjacent image. 

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Sustainability

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The building utilizes a green roof in the two courtyards

(as noted in the above building plan). A detail of the green roof

can be seen in the adjacent image. 

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Primary Engineering Systems

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Construction:

The Lofts is a GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price) contract for $45.5 million. The Lofts began construction in early

July of 2016. It is expected that the job will last roughly 22 months, making an end date of May 2018 a project goal. Before construction can begin on the apartment building, the podium on which it stands needs to be completed first. Per the owner’s request, the building is to be constructed by parts. The building was broken down into five different “buildings”, distinguishable by firewalls within the building. The first to be constructed (Building A) houses the amenities and the management areas on the second floor so it is imperative that the construction of that building does not fall behind. The owner also wishes to construct the building in this manner because it will allow them to begin leasing apartments earlier than if the building was turned over as a whole.

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Structural:

The structure system employed by the building is a podium style; meaning that the first floor raises a structure above it, or in this case the parking garage holds the apartment building above it. This allows for a fairly involved structural system; where the parking garage, that supports the building above it, is built with structural steel supporting the slab on deck. The steel is supported by 230 individual spread footings. The slab on grade is 5" concrete and the slab on deck is 3". The apartment structure above is wood framed with the use wooden trusses a floor supports.

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Mechanical

The overall mechanical system of the building incorporates several air handling units that are used to condition air for public places within the building as well as individual rooftop units that supply heating and air conditioning to each unit. There are five rooftop air handlers, ranging from 2000 CFM – 5000 CFM that work with heat pumps within the building.

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Electrical/Lighting

The utility lines connect into five 1200 A switchboards located on the garage level of the building. These then branch out to the transformers and pull boxes located around the building. In total, there are twelve pull boxes spread out over the second and fourth floor, both spreading to the panel boards on all four floors. LED lighting is used when possible to provide energy savings to the building owner. 

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