WHAT'S LEFT TO SAY ABOUT MULTI-STORY

RESIDENTIAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION?

This question was answered when I was having dinner recently with an old college friend. A practicing architect in Chicago, he was talking about his current project-a large condominium building on Lake Michigan. When I asked if his project team had looked into steel as the structural material, he answered, "Steel is for offices, concrete is for residential."

That statement made it clear that there are still many misconceptions about steel-framed multistory residential projects. Structural steel does accelerate construction schedules and lower overall costs for office structures, but the same is true for steel-framed multi-story residential buildings.

Structural steel framing:

➜ Reduces foundation costs;

➜ Increases speed of erection and allows for allweather construction, which generates earlier revenue from earlier occupancies;

➜ Allows for longer spans with fewer columns, which provide more useable clear space; and AISC's Steel Solution.

Click here for full document.