I need to see the crane on this one. Lots of parties involved for me to feel confident.
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If the facade is within a certain distance of the property line, it has to have a 1 hour fire rating. The distance depends on the construction type. And, if the facades face a street, the distance is to the centerline of the street and not the property line. Distance also affects the percentage of unprotected openings you are allowed to have. As the SECU building is all curtainwall, the system has to be rated as if it is a wall and not an opening. And yes, they do make 1 hour rated exterior curtainwall systems. They’re very expensive.
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@Alan gave a fantastic explanation… Here’s the property line for reference. The north facade is the one that is fire-rated at the lower areas. I’m not well-versed enough on code issues to remember the specifics off the top of my head, but this looks like an unusual condition because the facade on this side would be treated as being measured as a distance from the property line, rather than to the center-line of the street. It basically abuts the neighboring pedestrian bridge.
I actually did a semester-long precedent study on this building while it was under construction almost a decade ago; went back and referenced my essay lol. I was misremembering and had it backwards – the majority of SECU is actually unitized; only the lighter-colored glass portions are stick-built, and a large portion of this is fire-rated.
One of the most prominent features of the stick-built system in SECU is the portion of it on the North façade that is fire-rated. Due to the setback limitations of the site and the tower’s proximity to its surroundings, (the pedestrian bridge in front of the building is only six feet off of the property line), code dictated that the lower portion of the north façade have a one-hour fire rating. The architects wanted to maintain the visibility and transparency of the rest of the building in order to keep a connection to the city, especially to relate to pedestrians on the streets and to let inhabitants of the buildings have views to the exterior. So rather than constructing a solid fire barrier, they utilized an innovative fire-rated curtain wall system. While the rest of the curtain wall uses one-inch thick insulated glazing (made up of two quarter-inch panels enclosing an airspace), the fire-rated wall uses glass panels that are considerably more heavy and expensive, about three times the cost of the other stick-built curtain walls. The glass is a specialty product that was custom ordered for the building, and it is the largest known installation of fire-rated glass on record, continuing from the first floor to the sixth. The panels are made up of a ¼” outer panel of glass, an air cavity, and then a one-inch thick panel of glass with ceramic fire protection. The fire protection functions in a similar manner to intumescent mastics; in the case of fire, transparent flakes of ceramic infused into the glass will expand to create a barrier of fire resistance.
Another interesting tidbit that I’d forgotten about: In part to achieve the fire rating, the mullions are steel (rather than aluminum), and they were a custom design by the architects, who intend to mass market it. At least according to the understanding of college-aged-me, lol.
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Well folks, we have a 400 footer heading our way, even if we have to wait until 2025 for its completion.
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For reference, the Wells Fargo tower is also exactly 400’ tall.
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So I’m a dummy, is it 300 or 400 feet? Or is this another tower in the complex?
Sorry to burst your bubble, but not quite. The measurements start at 100’ for the ground floor (338’ elevation), so it’s only 300’.
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For reference, FNB tower is 287’ tall.
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Foiled again!!!
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Estimated completion date in 2025? That’s 3 years from now. So this will likely not start this year or they going super slow? 18 months is a standard construction timeline for a 20 story tower.
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The schedule may be padded to respond to uncertainty in the supply chain.
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Maybe they’re hiring the same company who has been doing the East End Connector in Durham. 7 years for a 1.5 mile highway…
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So, just for us simple lay folk - y’all are saying this tower will be big? Like PNC type big?
All delays in that have been from RR
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No, around 300’ tall only
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18 months based on what? I personally would average 12-14 months for every 10 levels especially a tower with a full interior buildout.
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I mean technically 301 Hillsborough is not completed yet, so I totally understand that timeline if they mean “move in” date
I waited 2 years for construction of a 25 floor residential building that was way less complicated.
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Government buildings take exceptionally longer time than standard office and residential buildings due to the various security measures needed. 3 years is actually pretty par for the course. The federal courthouse in Charlotte has been under construction for at least 3 years as it stands now.
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March 1st Meeting note:
" In addition to existing delegations of authority, authorize the City Manager to execute applications, agreements, and other instruments necessary to facilitate the construction of the East Civic Tower as described in the agenda item, with such authorization to not include obligations of funding or execution of contracts above the existing thresholds for City Manager approval as set forth in the City Code or through other Council action."
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