Our experience in the Commercial space ranges from the tallest buildings in a city’s downtown to chain developments and local architectural icons. Whether we are working on a massive, mixed-use project like Camperdown in Greenville, SC or a small business headquarters, our systems and processes are the same.
Office buildings tend to be the tallest structures for structural engineers and they bring a unique set of challenges. As the structural system plays an integral role in developing a cohesive design of an office building, the engineer has to select a structural system that is both economical and safe. Special attention must be paid to wind and seismic conditions.
Fuller Group has the experience to help guide the design team to an economical and appropriate structural system. Once the structural system has been selected, our engineers and designers have the advanced technology and experience needed to perform the complex designs required, and to convert them to construction documents that are both practical and thorough. As construction begins, we know that time is money. We pride ourselves on being contractor friendly through quick reviews and reasonable solutions.
Falls Tower
As part of the mixed-use Camperdown development in downtown Greenville, Falls Tower forms the cornerstone of one of the largest mixed-use developments in Greenville’s history. It includes a multitude of private and public uses including luxury residences, class A office space (Bank of America and Elliot Davis), retail, restaurants, a public plaza, and private underground parking.
Standing at 17 stories it is the second tallest building in Greenville. The primary structure is a concrete frame with post-tension concrete floors. Its lateral system is concrete core walls coupled with internal counterfort walls that extend two stories below Main St., and utilize rock anchors into the foundations. Built up stairs and stadium seating lead pedestrians off of Main St. and onto Camperdown’s plaza. To service the many commercial offices, a pedestrian bridge (elevated 38ft by cantilever concrete columns) connects at the 4th level of the adjacent parking garage.
Fuller Group worked with developer Centennial American Properties, architect Nelson Worldwide, and general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie.
South Carolina Children’s Theatre
The South Carolina Children’s Theatre was founded in 1987 as the state’s largest year-round educational children’s theatre. Architect Craig Gaulden Davis was commissioned to design and masterplan their new headquarters, including a 42,000 square foot facility featuring a 300-seat proscenium theater, 100-seat flexible stage theater, flexible performance classrooms, dressing rooms, costume shop, production studio and administration areas. Fuller Group provided the structural engineering services for the entire facility and utilized load-bearing architectural precast panels, along with conventional steel construction to meet the spatial needs of the architecture.
Greenville Humane Society
Fuller Group began working with the Greenville Humane Society in 2010 when the nonprofit organization was looking to convert an existing empty warehouse into their new headquarters. Fuller partnered with McMillan Pazdan Smith Architects and Harper General Contractors to build the first cornerstone of the GHS campus which included a new Adoption Center and Administrative offices. Since 2010, Fuller Group has helped the organization expand its capabilities in adding a Medical Center and Foster Care building adjacent to the Adoption facility, for a total of 25,000 square feet. Fuller Group also designed a pedestrian bridge over the designated wetlands area to connect the employee parking lot to the campus, as well as a pavilion for outdoor events.
County Square
The centerpiece of the massive one billion dollar Greenville County Square redevelopment is the new County Administrative buildings. RocaPoint Partners of Atlanta hired world renowned architects Foster + Partners and Nelson Worldwide to design a unique facility that will become the cornerstone of the community. Fuller Group, LLC was engaged to provide the structural engineering design of the new buildings and adjacent parking garage.
The architectural design created a number of challenges for the structural engineers. Two separate five story buildings were designed with an interior courtyard with the buildings being attached only at the roof, and with an open pedestrian bridge at the third level. The courtyard between the buildings is approximately 45 feet wide and 180 feet long, and is covered at the roof level with an ETFE canopy system that allows light in but shelters pedestrians from the rain. The roof eaves were also designed to cantilever beyond the buildings up to 25 feet while remaining as thin as possible. The desire for open floor plans, and for spandrel glass systems on all sides of the buildings limited the options for lateral bracing and shear walls in the building.
Fuller Group studied a number of alternative structural systems ultimately selecting a steel framed composite building system to best address the numerous design challenges and to meet the project’s budgetary constraints. To laterally brace the building, moment frames were designed using the proprietary Sideplate Systems for the critical connections. Due to poor soil conditions, Fuller also reviewed a number of shallow and deep foundation systems to support the building. An aggregate pier system installed by local contractor Wurster Betterground was selected for the ground improvement method to increase the bearing capacities for the foundations.
Currently under construction, the County Square Administration building is scheduled to open in 2023.
Once the County moves their personnel into the new offices, the older buildings will be demolished, opening up the remaining 40 acres for upcoming development. The planners intend for the new County Square development to become a vibrant extension of the Greenville downtown community.