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Calculations · 06 · Practice
Integrated design & decisions
How a four-discipline student firm turned a new site, three added stories and an owner's mass-timber requirement into a traceable set of engineering decisions, each backed by a calculation.
One building, four disciplines
The capstone (AE 481W / AE 482) runs like a small firm. Every sheet's title block names the discipline team, with the sheet's author in bold.
| Discipline | Team | Structural sheet ownership |
|---|---|---|
| Structural | Tamara Alenezi · Nicholas DeMarco · Kevin Regep · Kohshin Noma | Tamara: enclosure connections, C&C, assemblies, drift (S.3.1–S.3.3, AP.1–AP.6) K. Noma: loads, gravity system, CLT, modeling (S.1–S.4) K. Regep: foundations, GFRC façade, spandrel torsion |
| Lighting / Electrical | Whitney Felix | — |
| Mechanical | Kohl Lindaman | — |
| Construction | Luca Ash · Akshaye Swamy | — |
What drove the design
- New site: relocation to Boca Raton, FL, with 180 mph wind (Risk Category III, Exposure C), higher humidity, more thermal demand and the Florida Building Code 2023.
- Three added stories: more gravity load, more equipment load, more drift.
- Owner requirement: mandatory use of mass timber.
- Sustainability target: reduce embodied carbon by at least 30%.
- Enclosure goals: modular, quick-to-install and repairable façades, and a higher level of aesthetics than plain brick.
Decision log
Every major choice on the sheets is backed by a comparison or a check:
| Decision | Options considered | Basis | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floor system | Concrete–steel composite · CLT non-composite · CLT composite | Deflection & strength DCRs, owner requirement | CLT composite, ≈ 98% flexural DCR. Calc |
| Topping thickness | 2″ vs 3″ NWC | Vibration and deflection limits for CLT | 3″. Calc |
| Fire protection | Applied fireproofing vs inherent charring | Predictability, no applied material, exposed timber | Inherent charring, 2-hr residual section passes. Calc |
| Zone 3 framing | Wide-flange beams vs open-web joists | Revised architectural program, low loads, efficiency | Joists. Members per bay ≈ 3 → 2.5. Calc |
| Mech/elec live load | Code minimum vs uniform 100 psf | More equipment demand from the added stories | 100 psf, conservative. Table |
| Façade systems | Brick (original) vs rainscreen panels, unitized curtain wall, punched windows | Coastal wind, moisture, modularity, aesthetics, thermal | Three-system enclosure. Calc |
| Glazing fill | Air vs argon IGU | NFRC-based scoring | Argon (40 vs 31). Calc |
| Spandrel restraint | No kickers vs kickers | DG 9 rotation ≤ 0.5° | Kickers @ 8 ft, θ = 0.067°. Calc |
| Drift accommodation | Per-system joint strategies | h/600 and h/400 under D + 0.7W | All three feasible. Calc |
Where disciplines meet
The most useful engineering on the sheets happens where one person's output becomes someone else's input:
- Enclosure → structure: Tamara's assembly weights (294.61 and 230.83 plf) are the façade line loads on the gravity loading diagrams.
- Structure → enclosure: interstory drift sets the joint and anchor movement each façade system has to allow.
- Architecture → torsion: the 2″ slab-edge clearance is part of the 6.5″ eccentricity that twists the spandrel.
- Mechanical → structure: extra equipment demand sets the 100 psf mechanical room live load.
- Construction → structure: repeating bays and minimal angled framing for fabrication, erection and economy of scale. Construction vibration and noise limits (OSHA) are part of the foundation review.
Codes & references used
| Reference | Used for |
|---|---|
| ASCE 7-22 | Load combinations (Ch. 2), dead and live loads (Ch. 3–4), seismic and site class (Ch. 11, 12, 20), wind parameters (Ch. 26), components & cladding (Ch. 30) |
| IBC 2021 / FBC 2023 | Heights and areas, construction type, structural design, wood, exterior walls, foundation testing and deep foundations |
| AISC 360-22 and Design Guides 9, 11, 22, 37 | Steel design, torsion, vibration, façade attachments, hybrid steel frames with wood floors |
| NDS 2018 | CLT design values (Ch. 10) and fire design / char depth (Ch. 16) |
| ACI 318-19 · ACI 336.1-24 | Concrete design · drilled shaft construction |
| U.S. CLT Handbook · Mass Timber Floor Vibration DG | Shear analogy, vibration-controlled span, fire · stiffness modifiers for FE models |
| ASTM D1143 / D3966 · ASCE 24-24 · ASTM E1996 | Pile load tests · flood-resistant design · hurricane impact resistance |
The coursework behind it
AE 372 (project organization, contracts, estimating, scheduling) and AE 441 (life-cycle economics) are behind the cost and constructability sides of these decisions. Organizational Behavior & Design, listed on her résumé, is behind the teamwork. The capstone sequence AE 481W / AE 482 is where it all comes together.