ENTRY FORM

DVASE 2013 Excellence in Structural Engineering

Awards Program PROJECT CATEGORY (check one): Buildings under $2M Buildings Over $100M Buildings $2M-$10M Other Structures Under $5M Buildings $10M - $30M Other Structures Over $5M Buildings $30M - $100M XX Single Family Home

Approximate construction cost of facility submitted:

$49M

Entry Fee:

FREE

Name of Project:

Princeton Theological Seminary – Bicentennial Library

Location of Project: Princeton, NJ

Date construction was completed (M/Y): Still Under Construction

Structural Design Firm: EwingCole

Affiliation: All entries must be submitted by DVASE member firms or members.

Architect: EYP (Boston), EwingCole

General Contractor: Barr & Barr (CM), Arnold (Steel)

Princeton Bicentennial Library

The Princeton Theological Seminary, established in 1812 in Princeton, NJ, is celebrating its 200th anniversary with the new Bicentennial Library, expected to open for fall classes this year. Modernization of the existing Luce Library began with the demolition of the adjacent outdated Speer Library to allow for the addition of a new 5-story, 91,500 square foot academic library. Composite steel framing, diagonal braces, concrete basement walls and CMU back-up walls for the stone facade are all part of the structural design.

The first challenge in the design was to determine the appropriate floor live loads. Our client wanted as much future flexibility as possible and expressed an interest in using high density book storage racks for their vast collections. Therefore, large portions of each floor were recessed for either current or future flush mounted rails high density support rails. The high floor loads and the heavy façade construction resulted in relatively high seismic forces, making braced frames the ideal lateral system for the structure. Several diagonal braces were expressed architecturally in the final design.

For what appears to be a regular shaped, rectilinear structure from the exterior, the interior presented numerous framing challenges. A 5-story column free atrium space features the historic south stone façade of the existing Luce Library. A creative solution was required for the support of the north curtain wall as it projects over top of the existing low roof. Hangers and diagonal kickers were dropped from the long-span roof framing over the atrium to support the walls, while maintaining seismic separation from the adjacent structure.

A primary feature in the library is the tall tower along the south face. Tied back to the main structure, steel moment frames above the roof were required to reduce deflection at the top. The tower was accentuated by the long vertical curtain walls of the study nooks or “carrels” that project out from the exterior facade. Cantilevered floor plates along with additional head supports were required for the custom curtain walls. Support of the CMU backup proved to be very challenging around the column free corners. Walls were reinforced and cantilevered around the corner of the building with a steel support hanger at the corner. This allowed to the masonry contractor to keep his stone connections consistent throughout.

Curved floor plates and cantilevers, along with exposed steel hanger rods support a 4-story grand atrium stair. We worked closely with the architect to design architecturally exposed members and connections. Each floor level also has a bridge, or skywalk that joins the new floor to the existing building. Vibration was a key design factor with the long narrow aspect ratio. Additional vertical members were provided to join each of the bridges to increase damping.

The shallow pitched low hipped roof has 10-feet long tapered cantilevers with integral gutters. It wraps the 4th floor mechanical room on two sides. Some of the perimeter masonry walls at this level were detailed as shear walls, transferring the low roof loads to the 4th floor plate to the diagonal braces below. The upper roof framing not only had to accommodate solar panels, but approximately 30 round skylights, large mechanical roof hatches, rooftop mechanical units and a triangular “winged” cornice around the perimeter.

The project was designed using RAM Structural System and documented in Revit. With the cooperation of the steel detailer, the review process was streamlined and steel fit-up of the complex geometries was seamless.

ARCHITECTURAL RENDERING VS. ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION

ARCHITECTURAL & STRUCTURAL MODELS (REVIT & RAM)

STEEL FRAMING / GRAND STAIR

FRAMING ENGULFING THE EXISTING LUCE LIBRARY

TOWER CONSTRUCTION

By signing, signatory agrees to the following and represents that he or she is authorized to sign for the structural design firm of record: All entries become the property of DVASE and will not be returned. DVASE / NCSEA is hereby granted the right to use or publish entries and accompanying materials in STRUCTURE magazine or other publications. In addition, a royalty-free license is granted to DVASE / NCSEA to use any copyrighted material submitted.

MAIN ENTRANCE RENDERING

Submitted by:

Print name: CRAIG NENTWICK, P.E.

Signature: Date: 4/11/2013

Submitting Firm:

EWINGCOLE

Mailing address:

100 N. 6TH. St. Philadelphia, PA 19106

Telephone: (215) 923-2020

Fax: (215) 574-7163

Email: cnentwick@ewingcole.com