Since the day we opened our doors, we’ve been committed to building a company that fosters professional and personal growth, promotes the importance of volunteering and giving back, and embraces the value of having fun. We felt then, as we do now, that pursuing these goals were very important to the well-being and productivity of our employees and, by extension, our firm.
When it comes to workplace excellence awards in the Structural Engineering community, we’ve consistently ranked in the top 5 ‘Best Firms to Work For’ nationally. While winning awards in recognition of our culture isn’t new, we’re excited to add some new hardware to our shelf…PSMJ’s 2022 A/E/C Employer of Choice Award! Even better, this was our first year participating in their national competition that determines the best of the best. Only the top 10 firms in the entire AE industry are honored with this incredibly exclusive and hard to achieve award – and we couldn’t be more proud of the recognition.
“Building an Award-Winning Culture” is literally part of our Mission Statement, and we’re blessed to have such awesome employees who consistently contribute to this effort. Thanks to our whole team for their hard work, and thank you to PSMJ Resources, Inc. for this recognition!
In the world of high-end custom homes, T.S. Adams Studio has been a well-respected source of distinctive architectural design for over 20 years. While a majority of their work is done in the southeast where their offices are located, you can find their designs in custom homes up and down the east coast and in regions of the mid-west. Their commitment to delivering a high standard of quality and detail requires an equally high level of structural design to achieve their ambitious vision. Our expertise in wood framing and creative approach to problem solving is the main reason they have chosen to partner with us on a number of unique projects.
This two-story custom on the northern end of Atlanta is a perfect example of our successful collaboration. Areas of heavy slate roof and stone tile floor finish required careful consideration of layout and structural design to meet the stringent deflection criteria required by the high-performance standards in this type of construction. The site itself presented challenges with the extreme grading conditions, which ultimately required sub-level retaining walls with counterforts and deadman walls to create the entirely level first floor layout with its sprawling terrace.
We’re proud and grateful to work with the team at T.S. Adams Studio and look forward to future collaborations.
The neighborhood of The Nations on Nashville’s west side is home to the newly constructed The Union Apartments. As a self-proclaimed home for modern innovators, The Union embraces its place in the revitalized industrial region of the city, offering a variety of living space options over its 250+ apartment units to those new to the neighborhood. Working for the first time with Brock Hudgins Architects and multi-family developer Wood Partners, both based in Atlanta, we’ve since been proud to watch our partnership grow over three multi-family projects across Nashville in recent years.
The Union has a total of four wood-framed four-story apartment buildings settled around common outdoor spaces and a community pool. The front entrance serves as the main focal point of the project, where an unclad two-story steel frame skeleton protrudes out of the residential building to form a drive-under with an industrial feel. Not simply for show, the steel also extends over the full width of the front portion of the residential building, providing support for the upper levels of wood-framed units over the two-story clubhouse space below. The end result is a structure whose aesthetic reflects the nature of its setting, with its polished contemporary façade anchored by its industrial past.
Meritage Homes is a national production homebuilder whose myriad projects from California to Florida consistently lands them in the top 10 of the Builder 100 list. Though only a few years old, our relationship with Meritage Homes’ Southeast Region functioned as a strong partnership from the start.
The genesis of our relationship came in 2018 as they began a multi-year value engineering initiative to holistically review and redesign their Southeast region’s multiple product lines to improve the architectural floor plans, elevations, and structural engineering. Value engineering comes standard with our services, so our team was excited to work with Meritage to simplify their structural designs, reduce material costs, and improving standardization. Historically, our designs reduce framing hard costs over $2000. A few simple calculations later, the Meritage team quickly realized that the savings from this initiative would make a huge impact on their bottom line.
Starting fresh, we were able to organize our design standards and typical detailing around their construction preferences – which is the foundation for creating standardized designs across multiple product lines and multiple divisions. This makes the entire library of homes easier to build, with less opportunities for field errors. After laying the groundwork of a solid relationship for years to come, we’re proud to currently provide structural designs for the single-family homes in Nashville, Atlanta, Greenville, Raleigh, and Myrtle Beach for Meritage Home’s Southeast Division.
We’re very excited to have had the following article published in the November issue of Structure magazine. It goes without saying that we’re super proud of the M+K staff members who co-authored this piece: Bert Coelho, P.E. [Principal + Dir. Business Development], Kevin Quan, P.E. [Sr. Project Engineer], and Micah Milner, P.E. [Project Engineer].
Steel Stud Bearing Walls
An Alternative to Traditional Podium Levels
Developers are always looking for new and innovative ways to make buildings more profitable and financially efficient. Traditionally, a multi-story bearing wall building over one to two levels of steel or concrete, also known as a podium structure, has filled this need by offering high-density residential units at the upper levels and parking or retail spaces at the lowest floors. For multi-story residential buildings, wood construction is generally considered the most cost-efficient form of construction, followed by cold-formed steel (CFS) bearing walls and then heavy steel or concrete framing. Because of this, developers have sought to maximize the number of wood-framed floors over the podium level before switching to more costly materials.
Wood bearing wall systems are limited to either 4-stories using Type V-A construction or 5-stories using Type III-A construction. Both types of construction can be supported on grade or a podium structure. Podium structures have been covered extensively in previous articles by STRUCTURE magazine. They are proven methods of meeting not only financial requirements but zoning and regulatory obligations as well. This article focuses on an alternate hybrid system that maximizes the number of stacking levels of residential units by introducing multiple levels of CFS bearing walls to support the wood-framed levels before transitioning to the transfer level or foundation.
The Challenge
Recently, some developers have opted to add additional residential units below the Type V-A and III-A constructed units. This means the stacking residential units from above are carried down below the podium level by minimizing or removing the retail and parking areas altogether. This change increases unit density, thus maximizing more profitable areas by limiting the less profitable retail and parking areas.
The challenge with incorporating stacking units from above with a typical steel or concrete podium superstructure is the interference of regularly spaced columns with residential unit layouts. While the podium column scheme lends itself well to open spaces required for retail and parking, the standard grid pattern presents architectural challenges at residential levels in accommodating columns within the unit layouts. Additionally, non-stacking loads from the residential bearing wall system above inevitably require deep steel or concrete beams or heavily reinforced concrete slabs and may even require drop panels. The ideal column grid may also disrupt stacked window layouts along the exterior of the building below the podium level.
Architecture is not the only discipline to face challenges with this system. Plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems are typically accommodated by having stacking mechanical penetrations for the full height of the building. In a wood-framed building, these are commonly located within the wall stud cavity. Therefore, stacked penetrations running down through the steel or concrete podium structure invariably conflict with beam and column locations that directly support the walls above.
To resolve these issues, architects frequently need to create new unit types and floor layouts to work around the traditional podium structural elements. Unfortunately, the new layouts can create spaces that may be inefficient or undesirable to developers or prospective tenants. Continue reading “M+K Article Published in Structure Magazine”
Working on projects in all parts of the country brings the exciting opportunity to tackle the regional design challenges that come with them. Delivering on our commitment to “big-firm capacity with small-firm service” requires the experience and state licensure coverage to get the job done wherever the site may be. Since as early as 2013, working with The Architecture Studio has provided us the opportunity to design structures in multiple regions of the country, including: Ohio, Nebraska, Texas, and Colorado.
One of our more recent design collaborations, the AlfaCharlie Modern Apartments in Denver’s northeast sector, offers luxury apartment living across 5 independent four-story wood framed structures. Our designs provide tenants with a 2-story steel framed community space, private drive-under garages, and a variety of site structures for the outdoor amenity spaces. The regional twist for this project was accommodating the post-tensioned slab on grade supporting the wood framed superstructure, due to the expansive soils native to the Denver area.
M+K’s mantra is Work Hard. Play Harder. Give Back. These six words sum up our work ethic, our culture, and our dedication to a greater purpose.
There is perhaps no better example of our commitment to this philosophy than the cycling team we formed this year to participate in the MS City to Shore fundraiser. Debuting in 1980, this annual ride starts in Philadelphia and finishes in Ocean City, NJ. Its sole intent is to raise funds to increase awareness and benefit medical research for Multiple Sclerosis, an unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that renders different symptoms for each person affected.
Once we decided to put a team together, we had to make it official and design a cycling jersey. That in turn required that we come up with a unique name. We did a lot of research and came across the French cycling term ‘Rouleur’ which refers to a cyclist who excels at riding on flat or rolling terrain. This definition exactly matches the topography of the MS City to Shore ride. Thus, the name ‘Renegade Rouleurs’ was born!
What a GREAT day it was! Under a sunny blue sky, the feeling of camaraderie on our team of 8 riders as well as the energy among the other 4,000 riders out on the course was fantastic! The heartfelt support from volunteers, police, and civil servants along the route and at the finish line was truly inspiring. And what really made the training and participation in the event worthwhile was knowing that the funds raised will help a great cause…namely, finding a cure for MS.
As a team, we’re thrilled to have raised over $6500 – contributing to the impressive total amount raised of $3.4M and counting! We’re looking forward to recruiting more riders and raising more funds for next year’s team…the M+K Renegade Rouleurs will definitely ride again!
It’s back to school time again! For most kids, August is a month filled with anticipation about the new school year…and shopping for school supplies. But for families in need, it can be a stressful time. Their children want school supplies like all the other kids.
We recently conducted one of our favorite annual fundraisers on behalf of The Mattie Dixon Community Cupboard – M+K’s Annual School Bag Drive for children in elementary school. Every year our employees donate money to purchase backpacks and essential school supplies for kids in need in Ambler, PA. Mulhern+Kulp matches the total amount of funds raised by our employees. Volunteers fill each backpack with binders, composition books, folders, pencils, crayons, glue sticks, ear buds, etc.
We’re super excited that, in addition to the 30 backpacks filled with supplies, we raised an additional $850 which we have donated to Mattie Dixon!
We were honored to once again serve as judges for various regions of the Timber Strong Design Build Competition [TSDB]. This competition tasks each team of university engineering students to design and build an artistically creative 2-story wood light-framed building that is sustainable, aesthetically pleasing and structurally durable. The students operate as a design/build firm and develop skills with wood design, BIM modeling, structural calculations, and hands-on actual construction of their structures at the competition.
Our representatives included Ricky Zabel who helped judge the Pacific Southwest Regional competition [hosted by University of California San Diego – UCSD], and Jared Hudson who judged at the Gulf Coast Region [hosted by Auburn University].
Per Ricky Zabel: “It was great to help judge the TSDB Competition, both for the reports and the in-person build. The combination of the technical design and hands-on building process are an invaluable opportunity for students to gain real life structural engineering experience. The confidence and understanding exhibited by the students really makes me excited about the next generation of engineers in the wood-framing industry!”
The Timber Strong Design Build Competition is sponsored by: Simpson Strong-Tie, APA [The Engineered Wood Association], AWC [American Wood Council], and ASCE [American Society of Civil Engineers].
This exquisite custom home in Clyde Hill, WA, is one of the latest projects developed from our collaboration with McCullough Architects in the Seattle suburbs. Built by Adam Leland Homes, this 2-story 5-bed/6-bath offers both quality and quantity over its 7,000+ square feet. Cathedral ceilings, wide-open layouts, and multiple covered outdoor areas create the perfect backdrop for the inspired architectural touches. While all its bells and whistles would be a marvel in any setting, the direct view of the Seattle skyline across Lake Washington certainly doesn’t hurt.
The expansive indoor spaces and covered deck areas which make these picturesque views possible also create structural challenges for supporting both the vertical and lateral building forces. Supporting 8-foot cantilevers, sometimes in two directions, in a 10-inch-deep roof system required integrating steel beams into the wood framing when engineered lumber wouldn’t cut it. The tall windows make for great views but require careful design of the few remaining exterior wall panels for lateral support, particularly in regions with high seismic demand like the Pacific Northwest.
We always enjoy working alongside the great staff at McCullough Architects and the awesome team at Adam Leland Homes.
