See Live Images of First Steel Plate Shear Wall High-Rise in LA on Webcam

Sept. 28, 2010

The American Institute of Steel Construction recently launched a new website and portal, www.aisc.org/LA-Live, that features the latest information on the L.A. Live Hotel and Residences project, the first steel plate shear wall high-rise building in Los Angeles.

The American Institute of Steel Construction recently launched a new website and portal, www.aisc.org/LA-Live, that features the latest information on the L.A. Live Hotel and Residences project, the first steel plate shear wall high-rise building in Los Angeles.

To coincide with the new website, AISC, along with Herrick Steel and AEG, will sponsor a breakfast presentation on October 29 by members of the project team and an onsite tour at the construction site for architects, engineers, general contractors, owners/developer, steel fabricators and erectors, and building code officials. More than 200 industry professionals are expected to attend the event.

With eye-catching images of the project site and a live webcam of the structure, the L.A. Live website showcases the hotel and residences building as the centerpiece of L.A. Live development; a four million-square-foot, $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential and entertainment district development adjacent to the Staples Center and Los Angeles Convention Center. The 56-story structure will house 1,001 hotel rooms and 224 luxury condominiums. The total development cost is pegged at about $1.0 billion for two million-square-feet of space.

L.A. Live Hotel & Residences broke ground on November 2007, and the structural steel erection is expected to be completed by the end of 2008, which is about two months ahead of schedule. The opening date is scheduled for early 2010.

The idea for the L.A. Live Hotel and Residences structure was born in March 2006, when Nabih Youssef Associates reviewed the conceptual design and suggested replacing the heavy 30"concrete shear walls with light 1/4"-3/8" steel plate shear walls to free valuable real estate space, eliminate 35 percent of the weight of the structure, and reduce seismic design forces and foundation sizes. As a result, the proposal compressed the construction schedule and budget while allowing for more simplified and efficient construction. Nabih Youssef Associates was then hired by the development group, AEG, to convert the 56-story concrete shear wall design to a steel plate shear wall system solution.

For those interested in attending the L.A. Live program on October 29, please register on the L.A. Live website at www.aisc.org/LA-LiveRegistration. For more information on the steel-plate shear wall system, please contact the AISC Steel Solutions Center at 1-866-ASK-AISC or [email protected].
Frank Raczon, Construction Equipment
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
ID 9194607 © Arak7 | Dreamstime.com
ID 9194607 © Arak7 | Dreamstime.com