At more than 4 million square feet, this facility is the world’s largest tilt-up concrete building, according to the Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA). The project was built near Houston, Texas for Daikin Industries, Ltd., the leading global manufacturer in heating, cooling and refrigerant products. The new $417-million campus, designed by Powers Brown Architecture (architect) and LJB Inc. (engineer), became operational in mid-2016.
The owner requested that all functions be housed in the same structure. The building incorporates a 1.8-million-square-foot distribution center, 1.7 million square feet of manufacturing space (plus 196,500 square feet of mezzanine), 231,598 square feet of lab space and a 202,600-square-foot office. The massive 497-acre site also features parking for approximately 5,000 vehicles.
As structural engineer of record, LJB provided design of the roof framing, elevated floor and mezzanine framing, load bearing tilt-up wall panels, and slab-on-grade and deep foundations.
