University Place

Project Overview

This student housing project consists of two high rise residential towers designed for the local WVU scholars. Suites vary from two to four bedrooms, each containing private bedrooms, paired baths, and modern kitchen, living and dining areas. Below the towers is retail space, parking, restaurants, and a grocery store providing an attractive streetscape. The separate 6 and 7 story towers are constructed of cold formed metal framed bearing walls supporting a propriety 'Tradeready' joist system. The lateral system consists of flat metal strap bracing across the shear walls. The shear walls were configured based on the design constraints of the flexible floor diaphragm so the walls align with structural steel framing at the top transfer level of the four level steel podium. The podium (lower 4 levels) consists of concrete topped metal deck over structural steel framing. The unique arrangement of the public spaces required careful placement and analysis of the steel beam floor system and the steel braced frames to ensure an economical and functional design. The foundation system consists of drilled caissons that extend down to the bedrock layer. Soil benching techniques were analyzed across different sections of the site to determine where an at grade or elevated floor system was most economical.