Piazza Apts. Full front rendering
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Architect: TC Architects
Akron, OH
Working in collaboration with TC Architects of Akron, OH, Morrissey Construction of Oceanside, CA and Elderly Housing Development & Operations Corporation (EHDOC) of Fort Lauderdale, FL, Wheaton Sprague Engineering, Inc. (WS) provided foundation and structural engineering and consulting for the Piazza Apartments, a 60-unit, 60,000 sq. ft. senior citizen apartment building located in Fontana, CA.
This facility, in order to fit within a small site footprint between existing structures, needed to be five-stories high. Being in a high seismic area, the structure was classified as a Seismic Design Category D structure per the 2007 California Building Code. At the early stages of the project, WS researched the type of construction that would be most economical. The structure was deemed too small to be an economical steel moment-frame structure. It was also determined that a reinforced concrete structure shorter than seven stories would not be economical either. At five stories, the type of construction that appeared most beneficial was the use of a combination of reinforced masonry at the first floor and light-frame construction for the upper floors. Exterior walls were designed as light-gage metal stud bearing walls and, at the contractor’s request, the interior walls were designed as wood stud bearing walls.
The floor system utilized wood I-joists to span the 26 feet between exterior and corridor walls. Since the building exceeded the allowable height per Code for using gypsum shear walls, steel sheet shear walls were designed for the upper four floors using SureBoard® 200, a product that bonds gypsum wallboard or plywood to a 22 gage steel sheet that resists the lateral loads. The masonry walls were designed as special reinforced masonry shear walls.
In addition, WS designed and detailed miscellaneous site structures such as a trellis supported by masonry piers, a masonry entry portal over the main walkway, a masonry screen wall and a covered carport structure.
