To meet the aggressive one-year schedule for the project, the design-build team selected Tilt-Up construction. Freezing temperatures, snow, sleet, ice and unseasonable rain slowed productivity and compressed an already difficult schedule. Tilt-Up afforded the team opportunities to work in weather conditions that would have shut down the site using other building methods. In addition to meeting the schedule demand, Tilt-Up provided the team with the ability to construct 60-foot-tall concrete panels and use a full curtain wall system.
Located on a tight site, the design-build team cast the concrete panels in three sequences on the floor and braced them from the inside instead of using typical exterior bracing, which required close coordination with the structural and bracing engineers to avoid interference with the structural steel erection.
The north elevation consists of a full curtain wall that leans out at a five-degree angle. This design idea was carried through to the south elevation through the innovative use of leaning out several of the Tilt-Up panels at the same angle.
Divided into east and west wings, the facility features a common three-story atrium lobby. Matching glass elements at the north and south elevations allow light to pour into the middle of the building. Tilt-Up panels on three of the four elevations provide a high-tech aesthetic look.
With an eye toward sustainability, the project was awarded certification in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System for Core and Shell Development (LEED-CS). The project has received the Regional Excellence Award in the health and science category from St. Louis Construction News and Real Estate.
CORTEX is a partnership between Washington University, Saint Louis University, the Missouri Botanical Garden, Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation and the University of Missouri-St. Louis. It is the first building leading a new biotech corridor in St. Louis.
St. Louis, MO 63108
United States
The Tilt-Up Achievement Awards were established to honor projects that use site-cast tilt-up concrete to introduce new building types, advance industry technology and provide unique solutions to building programs. Winning entries illustrate the variety, beauty, and flexibility of tilt-up construction.
ACHIEVEMENT
2007
The world’s greatest tilt-up structures are featured by the TCA as Tilt-Up Achievement Award Winners. Learn more >