Office Depot Global Headquarters

Developing this state-of-the-art corporate headquarters helped provide Office Depot with a competitive advantage and is the epicenter of the global company. The facility will help fuel the company’s growth for decades to come.

The project included elevated concrete decks which had to meet strict flatness factors to accommodate the interior track wall system. The main structure is comprised of a Tilt-Up wall shell with steel hung in the middle. The contractor formed the four-story panels of varying thickness with overlaps to achieve the stepped-back look desired by the architect, but had to cast the fifth floor panels separately to create the proper offset look. A 2-foot eyebrow parapet on the top floor was placed as an integral part of the top panels. Nearly the entire project was converted to Tilt-Up, which is a testament to the method’s versatility. Originally, six shear walls at the building’s core were designed to be cast-in-place, but were redesigned to be three-piece Tilt-Up components that were vertically stacked and welded together, and incorporated secondary vertical pour backs to accommodate the integration of the vertical reinforcing.

Additionally, the concrete elements at the two main entry promenades, designed to be cast-in-place, were converted to Tilt-Up, which helped with both budget and schedule. Because the scale of this project was so large, a mobile batch plant was set up on-site to supply all the concrete, eliminating concerns about concrete availability and traffic delays.

Integral eyebrows at the parapet were a construction challenge. To tackle this challenge, the Tilt-Up contractor cast the eyebrow integrally over the edge of the casting slab. In addition, the two entryways were panelized into two large boxes requiring several pours to construct. Crews utilized two cranes in tandem to lift the weight. The contractors worked with the flooring consultant to develop a cambering strategy, which was essential to the precise specification for the flatness of all of the elevated corrugated steel decks. The team was able to produce flat elevated floors that after deflection, consistently exceeded the FF flatness criteria.

The collaborative environment on this project created a setting that was ripe for innovation, which proved to be a tremendous asset throughout the project.