North Charleston Athletic Center

The 54,000sf North Charleston Athletic Center gives the Town of North Charleston and its residents a highly desired, year-round athletic facility that attracts regional, state, and nationwide tournament play. Tilt-Up’s value and speed were promoted to City officials and the project’s design professionals to deliver this structure efficiently and without delay. A design-build team was assembled to enhance the collaboration and keep the project on track. Non-composite insulated sandwich panels are utilized to create a hard wall on the gymnasium side while also allowing reveals, embedded thin-brick, and formliner to be cast into the exterior. These panels support 130’ long joist girders that clearspan the main gym and 99’ long joist girders at the auxiliary gym. On the ground level, lockers, offices, and community event spaces are arranged to support the multi-use gyms. Large panel openings at the 6,740sf Mezzanine allow spectators to watch the activity on the courts from above. Careful coordination was required to lift the 70 panels, most having heights over 40’ and weights exceeding 140,000 pounds. With limited crane access around the site and boom height restricted due to a nearby airport, the construction team utilized BIM and Liebherr’s crane simulation software to develop an intricate plan that sequenced panel and slab pours while also staggering panel and steel erection to deliver this state of the art facility. North Charleston Athletic Center presents a flagship recreational building designed to promote teamwork, leadership, health, and wellness to the community as well as becoming an economic driver of sports tourism.