2807 Arthur Kill Warehouse

Summarize the project's program, features and achievements?

Due to extremely tight property lines and no on-street parking, the owner chose a 2-story warehouse design. This allowed for 1st floor interior employee parking, TWELVE (12) rear loading dock facilities, as well as SIXTEEN (16) 2nd level docks on the street side. The 2nd floor includes 48'-6" composite tilt wall panels (40' Clear Height), cast on and erected off the structural concrete slab. The building footprint has very limited access to behind the building and only 15' clearance outside the east wall line. These constraints required the use of cast on site panels, erected & braced off the concrete deck. The owner was required to submit PE stamped erection load drawings to NYC for approval. This placed severe limits on the total panel, crane & lifting accessories weight allowed on the structural slab deck. Important note: This was the self-performing construction crew's first experience with tilt construction!

What obstacles were overcome related to the schedule, budget, program, specification, site, etc. on this project?

Access around the building was too limited to erect the wall panels from outside the building footprint. The owner's original design included a non-composite 8"+2"+2.5" TWP. Due to weight (132#/sf) these panels were limited to 12'-6 to 13'-6" widths, totaling 84 panels. The conversion to full composite TIPS panels reduced the panel weight (76#/sf) by 42%, allowing for wider panels and less panel joints/picks/braces. TIPS allows for a single pre-pour inspection, panel pours with less concrete placed, fewer panels to form, accelerating the wall schedule. The developer was able to get about 138,000 sf of commercial space on a 168,000 sf site, with 40' clear height with the use of insulated, composite tilt wall construction. Panel construction began in January 2024 with many wet, snowy days. The contractor was able to make pours everyday weather permitted. Many days had very tight windows with conditions to place concrete under ACI recommendations. The contractor was able to keep the project moving forward with many pours between 100 & 250.

Please communicate any engineering complexities or unique features of the panel design for this project?

Because the panels are located 17'-21' above grade w/ close proximity to the Hudson River, the wind load requirements were considerably higher than conventional panels erected at grade, resulting in slightly more reinforcing than typically required. The structural deck required HD post shores below the designated crane pathways. The reduced TIPS weight allowed for panel stacking, as many as 3 panel high. This enabled multiple picks from a single point, greatly reducing the length of the crane path and post shores below.

What is the potential for this project's impact on the community and/or environment?

The 2-story design utilized significantly less land area (acreage) than a single-story distribution facility. The use of underground parking eliminated offsite parking for employees in a very congested commercial area of Staten Island. There is an open space area adjacent to the project site that remained undisturbed, despite the construction of this warehouse structure. Limiting tilt construction to the structural slab area reduced soil erosion run-off to the area streets and drains.

Demonstrate how Embodied Carbon was reduced through smart design and/or material innovation.

By utilizing the TIPS over conventional non-composite (2" insulated sandwich TWP) concrete was reduced by 42%, average panel sizes were increased by approximately 50% reducing caulked panel joints and forming lumber by 31%. Reinforcing steel was reduced from the original design by 22%. Concrete reduction resulted in 42% less concrete deliveries and pumping pollution. TIPS R-16 is significantly higher than the R-10 in the original TWP design. Results: Reduced concrete by 701 cy and reinforcing by 45.77 tons.

Provide information on strategies implemented to minimize and reduce waste during construction, such as recycling or re-using materials.

Steel dedicated waste containers were utilized on site. Excess TIPS materials were returned to supplier. Contractor was able to use formwork for multiple panels, reusing about 60% of the forming lumber.

Provide information on energy efficient design and construction practices, including the use of energy efficient materials and systems.

TIPS composite panels provided 4" of insulation, an R-16, while the original non-composite panel design with 2" of insulation provided R-10. The building utilizes LED lighting. Solar panels have been ordered and will be installed on the roof.

Provide information on any strategies that reduced stormwater runoff volume and mimicked the natural hydrology of the site via Low-Impact Development and Green Infrastructure.

I am not aware of the tracking of rainwater management on site, although utilizing the structural deck with crane matts and internal panel erecting eliminated the need of a crane road around the building. The panels were constructed and erected during very wet winter months (January-February). An earthen crane road would have resulted in tremendous erosion control maintenance, run-off and additional costs to the budget. TIPS design resulted in the reduction of 701 cy of concrete (32 Gallons/cy) saving approximately 22,432 gallons of water. The finished design includes concrete paving around the entire site with drainage to drains, reducing water usage and erosion.

Provide information on innovative construction techniques which aided in achieving sustainable goals.

TIPS is an innovative construction product that inherently reduces concrete, reinforcing steel and carbon. The 2-story design exemplifies the ability to construct 40' clear height tilt construction in confined/urban sites. The TIPS design significantly reduces panel weights allowing for forming & erecting off a structural deck with ingenious planning, design and execution.

Provide information on the community impact of the project related to sustainability.

The 2-story design utilized significantly less land area (acreage) than a single-story distribution facility. The use of underground parking eliminated offsite parking for employees in a very congested commercial area of Staten Island. There is an open space area adjacent to the project site that remained undisturbed, despite the construction of this warehouse structure. Limiting tilt construction to the structural slab area reduced soil erosion run-off to the area streets and drains.

Give examples of innovative materials, novel procurement or construction strategies, and using tilt wall design to showcase exceptional performance in any of the above categories.

The developer understood not only the constraints of the building site for its end use, most importantly, they engineered the building to overcome the constructability limitations of the jobsite. With severely restricted access around the structure, precast was not an economical option. The structural concrete deck was engineered to endure the construction AND erecting loads required for the insulated tilt wall panels. The conversion to TIPS drastically reduced panel weight, used significantly less carbon, less panel joints to maintain and increased R-Value for energy cost savings over the life of the building! Erecting off the deck eliminated onsite soil erosion and run-off to area water systems! All of these benefits were achieved, while keeping expenses under the construction budget, despite this being the contractors first experience with TILT construction!