1900 Reston Metro Plaza
This award-winning building features a unique lateral system of architecturally exposed concrete exoskeleton columns on two sides.
Lead Contact
Project Details
ENR MidAtlantic, Best Project - Best Office/Retail Mixed-Used Developments, 2018
SEA-MW, Excellence in Structural Engineering - Merit Award for New Construction Over $75M, 2018
International American Concrete Institute (ACI), Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards, First Place - High-Rise Buildings, 2018
National Capital Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), Award of Excellence, 2017
Northern Virginia Master Planning (NAIOP), Award of Excellence, 2012
Overview
It's hard to miss 1900 Reston Metro Plaza, a 371,000-square-foot, mixed-use building outside of Washington, D.C., thanks to its unique lateral system consisting of architecturally exposed concrete exoskeleton columns on the building's east and west sides in addition to its profile which grows outward at each floor level above the ground.
We provided structural design services to Jahn for the building, which was completed in 2017.
The building consists of 16 levels of above-grade office space constructed with post-tensioned, two-way concrete slabs with 15-foot cantilevers and 40-foot spans.
Highlights
- The exoskeleton frames resist both gravity loads and all lateral loads in the long direction of the building. There are spandrel beams that act as continuous tension ties to overcome the exoskeleton’s tendency to act like a folding drying rack under gravity loads.
- The design also includes an open plaza surrounded by five-story concrete and steel composite columns, named the tree columns, that start together at a node at the base and splay out like a tree to support the 11 stories above.
- The structural and architectural layouts, which included an imbalance in the number of sloping interior columns in each direction, required our team to perform a staged construction analysis to determine whether the building movement was within tolerance. Based on the results, the team directed the contractor to place all columns along their theoretical centerline to correct for any lateral displacements during construction.