Strength and stability are the core values of the Zurich North America business model. The insurance company’s new LEED Platinum Certified headquarters was designed and constructed to reflect the company’s global reach and world-class stature. The building is composed of three primary “bars” that are offset and stacked. The top bar of the complex, at 500 feet long, soars 11 stories and cantilevers toward downtown Chicago, providing a unique structural expression along the interstate.
For our client Clayco, Degenkolb’s team designed economical connections for approximately 5,500 tons of structural steel framing. These included standard shear, moment and axial connections, as well as column splices, vertical bracing and heavy truss connections. In an effort to reduce bolt quantities resulting in significant cost savings for Zurich, Degenkolb’s designers specified the use of a bearing splice at the heavy truss framing with diagonals that see only compression loads. This approach resulted in only 12 bolts and two end plates at each connection, rather than the tension splice details with flange and web splice plates, and over 100 bolts at each connection.
Degenkolb also provided erection engineering services to Danny’s Construction Company for the award-winning project.
