Mock-Up Work Raises Confidence In Radical Steel Structure

The steel sector is so excited about structural engineer Ron Klemencic’s composite steel superstructure, expected to speed office tower construction, that at least three steel fabricators are studying it, many months before erection is set to begin on Seattle’s 850-ft-tall “proof of concept.”

The team gearing up to build the Seattle high-rise, named Rainier Square Tower, predicts the new structure, based on a cutting edge shear-wall core consisting of stacked sandwich modules field-filled with rebar-free concrete, will slash 40% off the time required to build a steel frame surrounding a reinforced concrete core.