Steel casting is considered an innovative, leading-edge technology when used in the design of building structures. However, there are several notable North American buildings that used steel castings that have been in service for over a decade. As steel castings become more commonly used in building design, innovative applications of this technology are emerging. …
Author Archives : Michael Gray, Ph.D.
An inventor of yielding connectors for high ductility non-buckling braced frames and a co-founder of the company, Michael Gray, Ph.D. is the executive vice-president of advanced technologies at Cast ConneX Corporation. Michael may be reached at m.gray@castconnex.com.
Composite Cast Steel Nodes Suspend 11-Story Office Building above Two Heritage Structures
Although the Queen Richmond Centre West (Figure 1) in Toronto offers a brilliant example of adaptive re-use through its integration of two existing heritage buildings into the construction of a new 11-story office building, it’s the fact that the 11-story tower springs from above both existing buildings that makes Phase One of this development a truly unique structure. Critical to the realization of the design from both a structural and architectural perspective is the use of elegantly shaped 31,500-pound cast steel nodes in the architecturally exposed structural steel framework supporting the building. …