SMBH

A creative culture of passionate people engaged in innovative structural design.

Commercial

The Columbus Jack

Columbus Jack

The Columbus Jack

Location:
Columbus, Ohio

Architect:
WSA Studio

Awards:
2013 AIA Columbus Design Merit Award

Construction Cost:
$1 million

Project Size:
13,000 SF

The Columbus Jack building was once an abandoned warehouse in Columbus’s Brewery District. In 2011, the building underwent a major transformation to become the new home of WSA Studio, a Columbus-based architecture firm. The firm’s decision to salvage an abandoned and forgotten building highlights their commitment to sustainable design and an investment in rehabilitating this mixed-use development. Built in the early 1900’s, The Jack’s unique structure is filled with heavy timber floor framing with exposed ceilings, aged and distressed brick walls, industrial windows, raw concrete floors, a dramatic vestigial elevator and a roof terrace. The lower level provides an open office space, while the upper two floors are loft-style apartment living. The second floor has four units and the third floor has two units with a roof terrace.

Unique to this project is the exposed wood framing and brick masonry walls that are original to the industrial nature of the facility. The SMBH, Inc. team worked closely with the designers and the brewery district architectural review board to maintain and restore the facility to its early roots. The team worked with the architect to restore the building envelope and assisted with a canopy design that was historically appropriate to the time period of the building’s original construction. The long, narrow building was interrupted with many interior walls and three sets of stairs. The combination was very disruptive to the use of and flow through the space. In collaboration with WSA Studio, many of the interior walls were removed and two sets of stairs were eliminated to enlarge the third to provide a safe means of egress from the upper levels of the building.

The Columbus Jack now has a second life and is a reminder that everything old does not have to be covered up with new drywall and fresh paint. Sometimes, a structure like “The Jack,” can be returned to its original rough texture and provide a unique living and work space. In November 2013, this project received an AIA Columbus Design Merit Award from AIA Columbus.

North High Complex

246 N high 35 E chestnut 2_ North High Complex

North High Complex

Location:
Columbus, Ohio

Architect:
Maddox NBD & Acock Associates

Construction Cost:
$46 million

Project Size:
Approximately 800,000 SF

The State of Ohio purchased an office building complex at the corner of High Street and Chestnut Street in downtown Columbus to house various state agencies. The original building on the site, immediately adjacent to Chestnut and High, was constructed in the early part of the 20th century. In the late 1940s, a 10-story addition was constructed on High Street, south of the original building. The building at 35 East Chestnut was constructed east of the original building and across Pearl Alley during the 1960s.

The State of Ohio has undertaken a major renovation of the complex in order to modernize mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems with the goal of extending the useful life by 40 years. We prepared structural analysis calculations to verify the live load capacity of floors and roofs and determine the impact of cutting new openings in them. During the construction phase, some severely deteriorated structural elements were uncovered, and we quickly prepared designs to repair the damage so as not to impact the construction schedule significantly.

A thorough investigation of the building façade also was an essential component of the revitalization process. After examining the exterior surfaces and noting unusual cracking and displacement, we determined that removal of selected portions of the brick and stone façade was necessary in order to examine the supporting steel shelf angles and ties. We prepared a plan for examination and supervised removal of selected façade panels so we could closely examine the steel. We subsequently designed repairs involving removal and replacement of corroded shelf angles and anchors.

Delivery methods have been General Contracting and Multiple Prime.

LeVeque Tower

LeVeque Tower

The LeVeque Tower

Location:
Columbus, Ohio

Architect:
Schooley Caldwell

Construction Cost:
$26 million

Project Size:
421,281 SF

The LeVeque Tower is a 47-story Art Deco-style building in Columbus, Ohio that was constructed in the early 1920’s. It was the fifth tallest building in the world at the time of its completion and it was the tallest building in Columbus from 1927 until 1974, when the Rhodes State Office Tower was completed. The building frame is structural steel with all spandrel beams encased in concrete.  The exterior facade of this building is oak-bark texture terra cotta blocks. Many of these blocks are carved to form sculptural elements indicative of the era.

SMBH has completed numerous projects on the building since the 1970’s. Many of the projects have been to maintain and restore the historic façade. The most recent project was an extensive restoration that restored the building to its original grandeur by adding a new 3-story lobby that is appropriate for the scale of the building. The lobby includes soaring windows that adhere to the original architectural plans. New entry canopies on the Front Street and Broad Street sides were also included in the project. The canopies highlight the original entries with design elements that reflect the era in which the building was constructed. Residential units occupy the tower portion of the building. Feasibility studies were completed to determine if an indoor swimming pool can be installed on the 17th and 18th floors for the apartments.

Past projects have included an extensive façade investigation, which was completed in the spring of 2005. During the investigation, SMBH inspected the entire tower façade and developed a restoration and renovation plan to maintain the integrity of it.

Project sizes over the years have varied from 5,000 SF to 75,000 SF and costs have varied from $1m to $20m. Delivery methods are CM at Risk and Multiple Prime. In this mixed-use building, we have worked on the hotel portion, condos, apartments and office space.

Grange Insurance Headquarters

Grange HQ

Grange Insurance Center

Location:
Columbus, Ohio

Architect:
NBBJ

Awards:
2009 AIA - Merit Award

Construction Cost:
$90 million

Project Size:
238,000 SF for the Office Space and Data Center

LEED:
LEED/Sustainable
Design Integration

Located in the historic Brewery District in Columbus, Ohio, the project consists of a 10-story addition to the existing 12-story office building, a two-story data center and a new 1,000-space parking garage. The new office building and data center are steel-framed structures, and the parking garage is post-tensioned cast-in-place concrete.

There were several design challenges on this complex project. The new office tower and data center needed to blend in with and enhance the appearance of the existing tower, as well as address the urban aesthetic of the Brewery District. The office layouts of the new tower needed to merge seamlessly with the existing office floors. This dictated a 35-foot by 35-foot bay size – a large bay size for an office building. In addition, it was determined to use an under-floor air distribution system. This required a 1-foot deep raised floor system and the new floors had to align with the floors of the existing office building. These factors resulted in a less than optimum depth for the floor framing system, which consists of a lightweight concrete slab on composite metal deck on high strength structural steel framing. The girders were fabricated with large web openings between the infill beams to facilitate air distribution.