 |
|
The use of BIM software helped the Building Team overcome tight site conditions along Chicago’s lakefront during the renovation project. |
To complete the $55 million renovation of the historic John G. Shedd Aquarium in the allotted 17-month schedule, the Building Team had to move fast to renovate and update exhibit and back-of-house maintenance spaces, expand the visitor group holding area, upgrade the mechanical systems, and construct a single-story steel structure on top of the existing oceanarium to accommodate staff office space—all while the facility remained fully operational.
To help coordinate the complex construction schedule and deal with tight working conditions along Chicago's lakefront, the team—led by Walsh Construction and Valerio DeWalt Train—modeled a significant portion of the reconstruction work, including the 24,000-sf office addition, using building information modeling software. Crane location, material staging, steel hoisting and erection schedules, and patron/staff egress pathways were all carefully coordinated using BIM.
Other aspects of the project could not be so carefully anticipated due to unforeseen conditions in the 79-year-old structure. When the aquarium's three-million-gallon tank was drained to make way for a new pool lining, the team discovered that hydrostatic pressure was the only thing holding the acrylic viewing windows in place. To avoid the costly and time-consuming process of hoisting the massive windows out of the pool during the renovation, the team devised a clever structural bracing solution that used brackets installed underwater to hold the windows in place.
The team also had to devise three custom rolling scaffold platforms to permit installation of a new theatrical tension grid and A/V lighting systems to the oceanarium's structural trusses, which span as high as 80 feet over the pools. The special scaffold platforms were designed to cling to and roll along the bottom flanges of the trusses, and to flare out as they moved toward the curtain wall, providing workers safe access to the trusses.
“This was a technically challenging project, with a passionate client and lots of demands,” said Reconstruction Awards judge Matthew H. Johnson, PE, associate principal with Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Waltham, Mass. —Dave Barista, Managing Editor
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Draft NIST report on Cowboys practice facility collapse released for public comment
A fabric-covered, steel frame practice facility owned by the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys collapsed under wind loads significantly less than those required under applicable design standards, according to a report released today for public comment by the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
| Aug 11, 2010
BuildSite introduces LEED submittal templates for green building
BuildSite, a single source of product, technical, and procurement information for construction, has introduced online submittal templates tied to BuildSite Green Data.
| Aug 11, 2010
NoricF4 custom metal ICF frames receive fire ratings, comply with antiterrorism standards for buildings
Reward Wall Systems' NoricF4 Custom Metal ICF Frames have received fire ratings of 1.5 hours to 3 hours and they have been evaluated to be in compliance with the prescriptive requirements of the Department of Defense Minimum Antiterrorism Standards for Buildings for blast/force protection.
| Aug 11, 2010
Nation's first set of green building model codes and standards announced
The International Code Council (ICC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) announce the launch of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), representing the merger of two national efforts to develop adoptable and enforceable green building codes.
| Aug 11, 2010
Earthquake engineering keeps airport grounded
Istanbul, Turkey's new 2.15 million-sf Sabiha Gökçen International Airport opened on October 31, 2009, becoming the world's largest seismically isolated building. Arup's global airport planning and engineering team, in collaboration with architects Dogan Tekeli Sami Sisa Mimarlik Ofisi and contractor LIMAK-GMR JV, working within an 18-month timeline, designed and built the facility wi...
| Aug 11, 2010
New Ways to Improve Water Efficiency
In the U.S. and most of the industrialized world, building occupants take for granted the simple convenience of filling a glass with clean, drinkable water at the kitchen sink. Yet worldwide, nearly a billion people globally have no access to safe drinking water, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
| Aug 11, 2010
Embassy's dual façades add security and beauty
The British government's new 46,285-sf embassy building in Warsaw, Poland's diplomatic quarter houses the ambassador's offices, the consulate, and visa services on three floors. The $20 million Modernist design by London-based Tony Fretton Architects features a double façade—an inner concrete super structure and an outer curtain wall.
| Aug 11, 2010
Cost of HVAC equipment to remain flat in 2009, says Turner
While some manufacturers have announced slight increases in facilities equipment pricing for 2009, the average cost of equipment is expected to remain flat in 2009, according to the 2009 Turner Logistics Equipment Cost Index. However, equipment pricing could face increased pressure if there is a further decline in market demand.
| Aug 11, 2010
Toronto mandates green roofs
The city of Toronto late last month passed a new green roof by-law that consists of a green roof construction standard and a mandatory requirement for green roofs on all classes of new buildings. The by-law requires up to 50% green roof coverage on multi-unit residential dwellings over six stories, schools, nonprofit housing, and commercial and industrial buildings.
