Since 1956, Strongwell has developed hundreds of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) structural shapes, plate, gratings, planking, railing, fencing, structural building panels, and much more, proudly made in the U.S.A. in one of three ISO 9001 certified facilities. Strongwell FRP is also Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) compliant, which helps to bolster domestic manufacturing, build more resilient supply chains, and supports good-paying American jobs.
The last thing engineers should worry about when designing a tall building is weight concerns for necessary rooftop structures. Cellular, radio, and mechanical equipment must often be placed on the roof, requiring shielding for protection against the harsh elements or screening to prevent them from being an eyesore. Strongwell FRP is lightweight, corrosion resistant, EMI/RFI transparent, and low in thermal and electrical conductivity, making it the ideal solution for rooftop structures.
Several of Strongwell’s pultruded products are approved via DRJ TER for RF Panel Rooftop Enclosure Systems, which is approved by Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS), now in place of the L.A.R.R.
The following are a few examples of how Strongwell FRP has helped to solve common problems with rooftop structures, illustrating how FRP works where other materials can’t.
Case Study: 200 South Orange, Orlando, FL
Within the urban skyline landscape of Orlando, Florida, four 35' high x 35' square fiberglass turrets flank one another atop 200 South Orange (formerly the SunTrust Center and Sun Bank Center), providing Orlando’s tallest building with an architecturally inspired spire crown.
Originally conceived over 30 years ago as steel and aluminum decorations, the fiberglass turrets of EXTREN® structural shapes and FIBREBOLT® fiberglass studs and nuts housed 20' high antennae for first responders’ communication. As an industry leader, Strongwell’s fiberglass structural products comprehensively gained L.A.R.R. approval. This certification allowed the developer to alter the metallic design to composites due to composites transparency to radio signals.
Each turret has four windows with the frames fabricated from EXTREN® Series 525. Three sides have 27' high x 5' wide windows and one side has a 10' high x 5' wide window. Each fiberglass superstructure is covered in custom molded fiberglass panels.
All-fiberglass structural members were prefabricated and shipped to the site. Structures were almost completely assembled on the ground and lifted to the rooftop via crane. Workers were then able to bolt the fiberglass base plates to steel base plates on the roof.
Since 1988, Florida has endured over 100 tropical depressions and hurricanes. The fiberglass turrets were designed by project architects, Owens, Skidmore & Merill to accommodate hurricane winds common in Florida.
“We spent all of this money to make the towers distinctive, then we would have had to put antennae on the corners and it would have ruined the design and view,” said Julio Maggi, Construction Manager for the $130 million building developed by Lincoln Property Company. The city required the antennae to be installed because the 441' height of the building would have interfered with critical radio signals.
Over the past three decades, the developer reports that they continue to utilize the internal space of the aesthetic superstructure to conceal signal amplifiers and perform little to no maintenance on the superstructures. Maintenance workers reported the only efforts they put forth are to check the tightness of bolts every few years or after significant weather events.
Learn more: https://www.strongwell.com/case-study-fiberglass-turrets-still-crown-the-orlando-skyline-30-years-later/
Case Study: Bank of America Plaza, Atlanta, GA
A 37' tall, all-fiberglass spire installed atop the 55-story NationsBank building is the golden high point on the Atlanta skyline. The fiberglass spire is transparent to electromagnetic waves and houses communications antennae. Architects believe the fiberglass spire aesthetically enhances Atlanta’s tallest building, making it the city’s landmark skyscraper. In addition, the spire is extremely valuable real estate — prime antennae rental space is scarce and expensive. The tip of the spire houses an FAA warning light, retractable on a screw jack to facilitate light maintenance.
The spire sits approximately 1,025 feet above ground level and is designed to sustain wind pressures of 80 PSF. The spire, which is 6' square at the base, rises 26' then gradually tapers to a gold leaf point. It is supported on a 50' tall steel structural frame, 12' square at the base and 6' square at the top, covered in 1" DURASHIELD® fiberglass foam core panels. All fiberglass materials were pultruded in a special “Atlanta Rouge” molded in color. The sloping surfaces of the spire and sloping panels on the supporting steel structure are gold leaf clad.
The spire was fabricated complete and shipped to the job site just days before the building construction crane was dismantled. Maintaining this very tight fabrication and delivery schedule allowed the steel erector to use this crane for erection and save the owner the significant expense of hiring a helicopter crane as originally planned.
Case Study: The Grand at Sky View Parc, Queens, NY
In many applications, molded grating is specified as a chemical resistant flooring choice for industrial applications including (but not limited to) food production facilities. In other non-industrial applications, this type of composite grating can be used in architectural screening, green rooftops, and fencing applications, to name a few. In projects which specify Strongwell, customers are supplied DURAGRATE® molded grating, exclusively made in the U.S.A.
The Grand at Sky View Parc is located in the Flushing neighborhood of New York City. The billion-dollar housing development currently houses 743 luxury condominium units, a four-acre planted rooftop garden, and an 800,000 square-foot shopping center on its ground floor.
The Grand at Sky View Parc specified molded grating to be used as subflooring material for their rooftop space. Strongwell supplied almost 1,500 molded grating panels for this installation. In this application, the landscape architect needed a lightweight, bi-directional load, subflooring product which could be easily fabricated onsite to support the shared space which houses an outdoor kitchen area, a 75' swimming pool, reflecting pool, vegetation, and meditation area. With this worksite being located in the second most populated borough in New York City, it was significant that the DURAGRATE® 1" and 1-1/2" molded panels were able to be easily transported, shipped, and installed with minimal effort and disruption to traffic and residents.
The owners of the Grand at Sky View Parc, ONEX Real Estate Partners, have been extremely complimentary of both the service and quality of Strongwell’s products, and the performance thus far of DURAGRATE® Molded Grating.
Other Strongwell FRP products used for rooftop applications include DURAGRID® pultruded grating and SAFRAIL™ handrail for maintenance access and platforms, SAFPLANK® interlocking decking, and SAFPLATE® gritted plate for continuous walking surfaces.
Want to learn more about FRP?
Read more case studies: https://www.strongwell.com/case-studies/
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