Agreed. I think this is going to turn out quite nicely from a massing perspective.SeattleNative wrote: ↑Apr 11, 2021Also, I know that buildings stepping down to meet current buildings aren’t always the most popular with urbanists, but I think Expo does a really good job transitioning into the residential on DeGiverville with those townhome style units.
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The bit of wood framing on 301 DeB and piles of wood on the ground leads me to believe most of the rest of it will be wood.
The North building has framing going up and the elevator shaft is at, or near, the maximum height. Some concrete was poured near DeGiverville.
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Chris and Quincunx, keep 'em coming. This is should be a truly happening stretch of street very soon. 
Looking forward to seeing how these flesh out.
Looking forward to seeing how these flesh out.- 542
Matchstick garbage construction above the second floor, all round.
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I do remember Pearl making a declaration that they intended to own this project long term and not sell it to investors. If they do intend to own it, more incentive to make sure construction is quality.throatybeard wrote:Matchstick garbage construction above the second floor, all round.
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^^I'm not generally a fan of the five over two, but they're definitely not all created equal. In this case I'd say they're a heck of an improvement on what was there. It will definitely be interesting to see how the stuff ages.
Well, if you’re not used to it by now, I have some bad news for you. It’s very common for construction now and will be for a long time.
As long as proper measures are taken to mitigate fires, then I see no problem with these buildings. You can build quality housing out of wood and make it worth it. But if you’re in it for the money and don’t give a sh*t about quality, then that’s where you have problems.
They’ll do it right with Expo.
You can see the outline of the courtyard, surrounded by the U-shaped residential with the open end facing south (left), above.
All of that steel framing extending above the podium, down and to the right of the swimming pool(s?) must be amenity space, clubhouse, fitness room, etc., probably 2 or more stories of it. So, all of the common areas will be steel framed with just the residential unit stacks wood-framed on top of the steel...
Thank god that firebug we had a few years ago seems to have disappeared.
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^^The steel framing is doubtless just the first floor or two. When this all started it was four stories of sticks. Then it was four over a steel or masonry story for commercial and or a garage. Increasingly I think the formula nationally is supposed to be five over two, which has lead to a new nickname. That said, I'm a stagehand, not a developer. I may be wrong on the numbers. Canada is looking at ways to do completely wooden towers, but I don't think we're there yet in the US. (Very different sorts of wood products anyway.)
There's at least one level of very substantial steel framing extending above the podium at the northeast corner of the "courtyard", which looks like it's designed to support another level of amenity space or a common area terrace above that.symphonicpoet wrote: ↑May 12, 2021^^The steel framing is doubtless just the first floor or two. When this all started it was four stories of sticks. Then it was four over a steel or masonry story for commercial and or a garage. Increasingly I think the formula nationally is supposed to be five over two, which has lead to a new nickname. That said, I'm a stagehand, not a developer. I may be wrong on the numbers.
So, I expect this (south building) will be another cruise ship with 10s of thousands of square feet of extreme amenity decks. Perhaps the amenity decks will serve both buildings, though, so maybe it makes sense in this situation.
Of course they are. They have a nearly inexhaustible supply of an increasingly valuable resource, and a very influential lumber industry. And Canada's building codes are much more flexible than ours, especially wrt to wood framing, because of that influence, and because, historically, they didn't experience the many, many disasters that inevitably occur when you try to cram tens of thousands of people on top of each other in neighborhoods built entirely of tightly-packed kindling.symphonicpoet wrote: ↑May 12, 2021Canada is looking at ways to do completely wooden towers, but I don't think we're there yet in the US. (Very different sorts of wood products anyway.)
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^There's certainly no rule that you can't put more steel into a building than required. The 5 over 2 is a minimum, if I understand it correctly, not a maximum. And local laws may (and doubtless do) vary. (Stagehands and musicians are doubtless not great resources on local and national building code.)
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At least one Scandinavian country and the Netherlands are building entirely wooden towers as well. The B1M has some good videos about them; seems like they've got the safety stuff down pat.
Cross Laminated Timber is showing up more and more in the US. The biggest example is currently under construction in Milwaukee, a 24-story tower. Although the first few floors are concrete for a parking garage, but the other 18? or so will be built from Cross Laminated Timber. Not all cities have approved this type of construction yet, so wherever it has been attempted, some hoop jumping was required but since the plans were approved, it’s now easier for other developers to propose buildings made of that material.
Here in St. Louis, the City Foundry Phase 2 office building would be the first to use this type of building material in the City and State, so it has the potential to change some rules (if they don’t already allow it).
Here in St. Louis, the City Foundry Phase 2 office building would be the first to use this type of building material in the City and State, so it has the potential to change some rules (if they don’t already allow it).
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I've seen some really attractive uses of large laminated timber beams. The Daniel Boon Regional Library has some very attractive ones in the interior, though the bulk of the structure is still steel and masonry. The first local structural example I can think of was a modest gazebo at the Botanical Garden some forty odd years back. (At the back of the newer rose garden.) It's not a patch on what you're describing, but it seems to have held up well even in a rather exposed environment. At the very least it makes me think the stuff shouldn't delaminate at the first sign of humidity. It's been there more than forty years, after all. Outside. In Missouri. (Of course, as soon as I say this some MoBot staffer will chime in that all the beams have been replaced, or some engineer will say the glue is completely different now or some such. So maybe it's a useless example. But at a glance it does seem positive.)
Jeez . . . I remember when we were encouraged to use both sides of a sheet of paper to "save a tree".
^Is the south building on pause here? It's been a month since anyone has posted an update...
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Nope. Still going!urbanitas wrote:^Is the south building on pause here? It's been a month since anyone has posted an update...
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Isn't there a Straub's literally five blocks directly east at Kingshighway & Maryland?wabash wrote: ↑Mar 20, 2021Maybe Straub's will work on closing their yawning gap in western central corridor coverage.
A 28 minute, 1.4 mile walk to the East, yes. With no direct path due to private streets.
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Open the gates! Expo developer promised a more affordable option than a Whole Foods type, which I see Straubs slotting is an.aprice wrote:A 28 minute, 1.4 mile walk to the East, yes. With no direct path due to private streets.
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