Genshaft Honors College atrium. Photo by Seamus Payne
The highlight of the building’s interior is the five-story atrium that includes a 360-degree walkway at each level. Each level includes learning lofts, spaces where students can meet in groups and study. The lofts are all different sizes and shapes and contain different furniture. “From a structural standpoint, we had to figure out how to tie multiple levels together,” Richard said. “Each of these learning lofts are on a cantilevered structure. The concrete is the bones, and then there’s a lattice of steel that the wood would clad around to give you that final look and tie it all together.” The Morphosis, FleischmanGarciaMoslowski, and Walter P Moore teams worked in concert from start to finish to ensure that every element of the design was a showpiece. “It was a very collaborative effort on this project and, quite frankly, what I think projects of this type really must have,” Richard said. “If you can communicate with the architectural team early and often, you give yourself the best chance to be the most efficient in delivering the project.” 30 | ENGINEERING FLORIDA
D R . PHILLIPS AC A D E M IC COM M O NS Orlando Located on the University of Central Florida’s downtown Orlando campus, the Dr. Phillips Academic Commons serves as the focal point for the university’s presence in Orlando’s Paramore neighborhood. Featuring two concrete wings connected by a glass bridge, the building houses classrooms, laboratories and faculty offices. The design architect for the building was New York-based firm Robert A.M. Stern Architects, and the production architect was Schenkel Shultz Architects, an Orlandobased firm. Joe Ales, PhD, PE, SE, served as principal-incharge of the project for Walter P Moore, the structural engineer. “We prefer to do projects that look like this, because you can see geometrically it's very interesting,” Ales said. “There’s a lot going on, and our job is to be able to support it.” The building features a lot of open spaces, requiring numerous long spans in the structure. Because the