WESTMINSTER, Colo., Feb. 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chicago’s legacy of architectural excellence is derived from pushing boundaries through experimentation and innovation. Among the city’s latest legacy assets, 150 North Riverside, designed by Goettsch Partners, stands out as the incredible made possible thanks in part to an innovative building material from ACH Foam Technologies.
Adjacent to Chicago’s famous loop and hemmed in by set-back zoning requirements along the Chicago River and seven Amtrak lines, the site offered a developable parcel just 55-feet wide upon which to build.
“Meeting the challenge of building a cost-effective high-rise on this site came down to delivering the required floorplate area with a 45-foot lease span supported by four-story trusses on either side of the 39-foot-wide core,” says Erik Harris, an Associate Principal with Goettsch Partners. After securing Air Rights over the Amtrak right of way, designers decked over the rail lines concealing the parking structure and enclosing about 28% of the site while creating 2.5 acres of green space.
Originally hollowed slab-on void construction was planned to build-up site topography, but when the complexities of that much concrete became cost-prohibitive, ACH Foam Technologies’ Foam-Control Geofoam replaced it. Geofoam is a lightweight, structural material used to fill voids and make architecturally-contoured surfaces.
“We only work with materials that we know will perform,” says Harris regarding the switch to Geofoam. “Performance, in this case, means supporting the pounding it will take from heavy pedestrian use in Chicago’s harsh weather; being easier, faster, and less expensive to work with; and, most importantly, feeling confident in the material’s capacity to meet loading requirements.”
Using Foam-Control Geofoam, builders created a two-tier park addressing vertical movement on site. Foam-Control Geofoam blocks are up to 8’ x 4’ and up-to 48” thick, which makes building multi-level terraces, ramps, stairwells, and planters easy. Since a tree may need a soil depth of several feet, a shrub some 18 inches, and grass just 6 inches, building a Geofoam base that accommodates appropriate soil depths decreases the overall dead load on the structure and supports controlled, positive drainage across the site.
“Though this building is both bold and dramatic, when it comes to material selection, we are not looking to be risk takers,” finishes Harris. “Like the design for 150 North Riverside itself, Foam-Control Geofoam provided a confident approach to a unique engineering problem and contributed greatly to an overall wonderful building solution.”
Steve Silva - ssilva@achfoam.com / 303.645.4114
Sean O’Keefe - sean@sokpr.com / 303.668.0717
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ef7c6875-6717-4f1c-8f48-b9309ee33456