Office

SK&A is providing structural engineering services for a new three-story academic building to serve as the new School of Humanities & Sciences facility of the ADA University’s North Campus in Baku, Azerbaijan.  The facility will contain classrooms, seminar areas, student and faculty collaboration spaces, administrative/faculty offices, and circulation spaces.  The building will also have a partial basement level for locker rooms and storage space.

The building’s design utilities materials such as glass, copper, and limestone.  The northwest elevation will contain a copper screen wall with a garden-like façade as well as a south facing glass wall with an exterior solar screen.  

This 13-story, 353,000 sf Class "A" office building is occupied by the Federal Government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, VA.  The building is located within the larger Liberty Center complex, which is a 5.35-acre, mixed-use development with two office buildings, a residential tower with retail, and structured below-grade parking.  The development is certified at the Gold level under the LEED-ND (Neighborhood Development) pilot program.

Designed to meet the Department of Defense minimum Anti-Terrorism Force Protection (ATFP) standards, the building has an 82-foot secured perimeter and is surrounded by a sizeable lawn separating it from the surrounding buildings within the complex.

SK&A provided structural design services as well testing and inspection servcies, including earthwork and foundation monitoring and testing, structural concrete inspections, architectural and structural precast concrete inspections, as well as structural steel, masonry and curting wall/ windows inspections.

Built in 1957, this former printing facility was a five-story building that included a basement level over pile foundations.  In the early 2000’s, the building was renovated to house a telecommunications firm, which was never occupied.  Floors were filled in on all levels and structural column modifications existed on some floors.

Completed in 2012, the building was converted to office space for occupation by various DC Government agencies.  The lowest level was converted to parking and a new two-level parking garage was constructed adjacent to the existing building on the east side.  Lateral stiffness of the building was enhanced using steel braced frames installed before removing the existing precast façade.  New elevator shafts and interconnecting stairs were framed at existing floor plates. Structural services also included the evaluation of existing structural elements for new loading, green roof evaluation and local strengthening.

The project has received the highest level of LEED certification–Platinum, as well as numerous awards of recognition.

The structural engineer of record for previous renovations performed in 1999, SK&A also provided engineering services for new renovations to the United Arab Emirates Chancery.  The new improvements included a four-story addition (10,831 sf) to the rear as well as changes to the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems (MEP), waterproofing, interior build-outs, and the addition of an exterior rooftop terrace.

The building is supported by a poured-in-place, reinforced concrete structural system.  The scope of structural services also included:

• Removal of interior bearing walls and replacement with steel framing.
• Design of deep foundation systems to support new steel posts for new steel framing and building columns.
• Removal and replacement of the first floor deck. 
• Removal and re-installation of the basement slab-on-grade to accommodate the new first floor deck.

SK&A provided structural engineering services for the Nigerian Embassy’s new chancery building.  In addition to three above-grade levels of office and meeting space, the chancery includes below-grade parking for 90 cars.

Designed to U.S. Department of State standards, the building is a modern structure with a stone-clad exterior and a soaring, light-filled atrium/lobby with a curtain-wall of glass.  SK&A’s services included consultation from the schematic design through construction administration phases.

SK&A provided repair and renovation services for this office complex project.  The complex has three unattached, matching buildings facing each other surrounding a central plaza with outlying parking lots and a parking garage below.  The plaza’s landscaping appears as an X-shaped courtyard between the buildings.  The northwest and southwest legs of the X (flanking Building #2) have large continuous planters with paver-topped walkways lining each side.  The other legs also have paver-topped areas as well as isolated planters. The plaza slab surrounding the buildings is a conventionally reinforced concrete slab, supported on concrete beams and columns.  The garage has concrete-encased steel columns located around the building perimeters.  An approximately 25’ wide asphalt driveway is located on three sides of the plaza and is designated as the service lane. 

The plaza renovation included the complete removal of the existing pavers, planters and waterproofing, the repair of structural elements below the old waterproofing, and the replacement of topping materials.  Work also included concrete steel column encasement repairs, removal and replacement of concrete ramps and topping slabs supported by CMU piers, and painting, priming, and fireproofing of steel beams.

In addition, SK&A replaced existing soil beneath the pavers with crusher-run fill, performed architectural precast concrete repairs within planter pre-cast panels, removed and replaced planter CMU walls abutting buildings and planter precast coping stones in order to install rubberized asphalt waterproofing. New plaza expansion joints were installed, and existing concrete bollards replaced. Lastly we cleaned and flushed the existing drains and installed new planter drains to promote bi-level drainage as well as provided waterproofing protection and project management services. 

SK&A’s Repair & Restoration Division evaluated the adequacy of an 11-story office building’s roof structure to accommodate a green roof retrofit.  Built atop of a two-level parking garage, the building is approximately 153,344 SF including plazas, while the new green roofs account for 11,000 SF.  Structural evaluation included providing detailed structural analytical computations to evaluate the roof’s capability of supporting the green roof addition plus required service loading, such as snow load, live load and snow drifts. Additionally, certain areas of the main roof and penthouse roof frame were evaluated to receive solar equipment. SK&A determined that the roofs were adequately designed to support the anticipated loads from the green vegetative roofing assembly in addition to the multiple load combination. 

SK&A categorized the scope of work needed for the green roof addition and provided roof plan view drawings for initial cost estimates. Following the survey, SK&A prepared plans and specifications for inclusion in the application package for DDOE’s Green Roof Rebate for Targeted Large Retrofit Program, designed and specified the green vegetative roofing system, provided structural waterproofing details to integrate the system application with those of the manufacturer standard details and prepared selective demolition and removal of the existing roofing assembly only to the extent to accommodate the new application.

Constructed in 1962, 1100 17th Street is a 12-story commercial office building located in Washington, DC.  The building consists of a penthouse roof, main roof frame and a lower roof located at the tenth floor level.  The combined roof plate is approximately 19,000 SF.  The original roofing membrane over the penthouse structure was overlaid with a loose laid EPDM rubber membrane.  The main roof and tenth floor roof coverings were replaced in 1986 with a liquid applied membrane system in an IRMA configuration. 

The first phase of the project consisted of the removal of the existing roofing system over the penthouse roof and replacement with a 20 year two-ply SBS system.  The project scope also included installation of safety tie-off anchors for the attachment of lifelines and safety-lines used by window washers.

Additional consulting services provided included: an existing condition evaluation report, preparation of budget estimates for the phased roof covering replacement, preparation of construction documents, assistance in the bidding, negotiation and contract award process, and construction administration services during execution of the work.

SK&A has provided structural engineering services for Phases One and Two of the transformative, new mixed-use waterfront redevelopment, The Wharf.  Located on the historic Washington Channel, adjacent to the L’Enfant Plaza and the Waterfront Metro Stations, the development integrates residential, office, retail, hotel, cultural facilities, and multiple public spaces along a total of 27 acres.

Phase I

SK&A provided structural services for three of five total parcels in Phase 1 of the project, as well as the two-level underground garage that supports all of the parcels in Phase 1.  The parcels consist of:

• Parcel 3 – is divided into two sections: 
  • 800 Maine (Parcel 3A) includes an office building (200,000 sf) with 20,000 sf of ground floor retail;  
  • Intercontinental Hotel (Parcel 3B) includes a 12-story hotel (238,000 sf) with 268 rooms, restaurants, bars, ballrooms and other meeting/event spaces, a spa, and retail space.  
• Incanto Apartments (Parcel 4) – consists of a 12-story mixed-use residential building, evenly divided between apartments and condominiums (310,000 sf).  A 50,000 sf health club and 25,000 sf of retail space will also be included in this structure.
• Hyatt House and Canopy by Hilton (Parcel 5) – includes two hotels housed in a single building (250,000 sf).

Phase II

Similar to Phase I, SK&A also provided structural services for parcels 6, 7, 8 and 10 within Phase II of the project.  These parcels consist of:

• 670 Maine and 680 Maine (Parcels 6&7) – includes two trophy office buildings with an extensive ground floor area for retail or additional office spaces.  Combined, these parcels include approximately 430,000 sf of office, 45,000 sf of retail, and 4,000 sf of back-of-house space. 
• The Tides Apartments and Pendry Hotel (Parcel 8) – features both apartments and hotel rooms atop 26,000 sf of retail space. There are 255 apartment units and 131 hotel keys along with amenities such as outdoor courtyards, collaborative event spaces, and a rooftop bar.  
• DCX Office Building (Parcel 10) – is a boutique office building with retail on the ground floor.  Parcel 10 includes approximately 50,000 sf of office, 20,000 sf of retail and 1,800 sf of back-of-house space.

For the Phase II parcels, two garages, Garage 2 & Garage 3, support the multiple buildings that sit above grade.  SK&A provided the structural design for Garage 2 , which supports Parcels 6, 7 and 8 with two levels below grade (105,000 sf plus 15,000 sf of retail located at the P1 Level).  

Located within the vibrant Arlington corridor,  The Liberty Center development is divided between Liberty Center South and Liberty Center North.  The complex features four office buildings, four residential buildings, an extended-stay Residence Inn hotel, ground level retail (70,000 sf) and structured below-grade parking.  The development is certified at the Gold level under the LEED-ND (Neighborhood Development) program.