Engaged early in the design process, Bird offered many value engineering solutions to maximize the client’s return on investment. This included incorporating various retaining wall designs, such as secant wall and cast-in-place L-beams with precast lagging. The cost of the retaining wall was reduced without losing any of its aesthetic qualities. A unique composite metal deck system was used on the third floor and roof slab construction, reducing the amount of steel required, yet allowing for large spans and uninterrupted interior grids with fewer beams. This provided a cost savings and maximized space. However, this system required careful coordination at the rough-in stage as all of the M&E equipment had to fit into an extremely tight ceiling cavity in order to comply with building height restrictions.
Challenged by the site’s high water table and poor soil conditions, Bird had to elevate the site with one-metre of gravel and geogrid, a geosynthetic material used to reinforce soils, to allow the team to begin construction of the concrete piles with drilling rigs.
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