Project Highlights

• 20 stories – 280 units
• Integrated parking for 350 vehicles
• Cast-in-place, post-tensioned concrete

 

Overview

The 532,000 square foot, 280-unit NordHaus apartment tower is the first phase of a mixed-use development on a full-block site in northeast Minneapolis. The residential component consists of a 20-story cast-in-place post-tensioned concrete tower surrounded by precast podium parking plus a wood-frame-over-podium structure that wraps around the tower. Amenities include club rooms, fitness areas, exterior terrace spaces, and a pool at levels 2 and 3, and integrated parking for 350 vehicles. At the conclusion of the initial concept design phase with a prior engineering team, MBJ was engaged to provide full structural engineering services. By studying the structural behavior of the concept design in the 3D model, MBJ found that structural changes in the tower floor plate and shear wall core layout could improve efficiency. By altering the original design, which used an 8-inch post-tensioned slab, to a 7-inch post-tensioned slab, MBJ effected benefits that included: 1) improved column positioning, 2) a reduction in concrete used, 3) lower foundation loads, and 4) overall $300,000 total project savings, all without altering the architectural program.