Panorama Tower

Owner: Florida East Coast Realty
Miami, FL

Architect: Moshe Cosicher AIA
Engineer: DeSimone Consulting Engineers
Construction Management: Florida East Coast Realty
Concrete Contractor: Baker Concrete Construction
Total Project Cost: $800 Million
Total Concrete Usage: 150,000 CY

STRUCTURAL FRAMING SYSTEM

Panorama Tower contains a number of complex concrete elements including two belt trusses. The roof belt truss contains six outrigger girders that are one to two-stories in height and reinforced with steel plates connecting the building core with the outrigger mega-columns.

Additionally, the post-tensioned slabs were optimized for maximum efficiency and reduced to a minimum in depth – eight inches at the podium and 7.5 inches at the tower. The core contains shear walls up to four feet thick. The completed foundation is 12 feet thick and reinforced with high grade steel. The reinforcement for the foundations are #11 bars bundled in pairs and spliced.

UNIQUE DESIGN FEATURES

The main pile cap connects 447 36-inch diameter piles. The original design included 42 inch diameter piles, but DeSimone worked with Florida East Coast Realty (FECR) to determine that the smaller diameter piles offered better market conditions. The final design was optimized to the design tension in the piles and resulted in two different tension piles shown on the construction drawings, which proved to be an effective way to reduce the amount of steel required in the piles.

During construction, the project team completed a record-setting pile cap, as well as the largest, continuous, single foundation concrete pour in the State of Florida. More than 175 cement trucks and over 600 people were involved in the pour including 120 carpenters and laborers, 100 iron workers, 350 concrete truck drivers, and 20 management professionals. The entire foundation mat required nearly 15,000 cubic yards of high-strength concrete totaling 13.5 million pounds, six concrete pumps that ran continuously for 22.5 hours, and approximately 3,500 tons of steel.

REASONS FOR CHOOSING REINFORCED CONCRETE

There were brief talks about using structural steel, but it became immediately evident that reinforced concrete was ideal due to the location of the project in Florida, a traditionally concrete state. Also, the building was intended to function mainly as a residential structure and reinforced concrete works well with post-tensioned slabs. The developer was highly involved in the design process and had a preference for concrete construction.