Engineering Design Day 2015 A Success

Engineering Design Day at the University of Arizona was a success this year!

The goal of this project is to design a multipurpose three-story building that creates a new hub for businesses and student housing. Located in the West University Historic District, the building blends into the historic neighborhood's architectural features. The project encompasses a complete transportation, hydrological, structural, and geotechnical design of the building and site while adhering to all applicable building codes. Based on calculations for expected daily trips and turning movements the new site plan is designed to optimize parking spaces, landscaped areas, and emergency vehicle access. Highway Capacity Software is used to evaluate the impact of the proposed building on surrounding intersections. Along with a newly designed grading plan, hydrological flood analysis for varying storm events is used to design rainwater harvesting cisterns and a stormwater infiltration system to recharge the groundwater aquifer and irrigate the site's native landscaping. The building itself is a steel-braced moment frame designed to support gravity, wind, and seismic loading per the Load Resistance Factor Design procedure. Given the applied loading and data from soil profiles, the site's soil-bearing capacity is calculated to design isolated concrete foundations with reinforcing tensile and temperature rebar. During the design process, decisions to use recycled materials, environmentally conservative methods, and energy and water efficient systems were used to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum accreditation.

Below is a video of the final design: