Most building owners are not structural engineers. 

While this may seem like an obvious statement, during the structural design process of a development, many owners are expected to act like engineers and make key decisions that may be outside their particular expertise. 

“Not all building owners are going to be up to date on the latest advancements in structural engineering,” Vulcraft/Verco Sales Engineering Lead Andrea Chiu said. “From the erection process to the capability of materials, there are a lot of things owners may not know, and as a result, they may choose a structural engineering approach that removes opportunities for them down the line.” 

Chiu walked Bisnow through the things owners need to understand about the structural design process, its challenges and considerations, and how Vulcraft/Verco can support them across their entire build. 

Asking The Right Questions 

While Vulcraft/Verco is known as a material supplier, Chiu explained that the company is staffed with experts in the structural design field who meet with all project stakeholders — owners, architects, engineers and contractors — during the design and construction phases to walk them through their options and ensure they are asking the right questions when making decisions. 

This is especially important today, when supply chain disruptions have rocked the industry, making it more difficult than ever to source materials and forcing stakeholders to pivot based on what’s available. 

Vulcraft, Chiu said, is able to take a project that was set to rely on hot-rolled structural shapes — a type of material that is increasingly difficult to source due to the rise of data centers — and explore how joists could be used in their place. The goal is to find options that will provide the same structural performance without impacting a project’s timeline. 

“During the design phase, owners need to be asking key questions about the schedule, the availability of materials and what alternatives are available to them,” Chiu said. 

Staying Flexible 

The team also prioritizes flexibility in its design recommendations, she said. Buildings are constantly changing tenants or even uses, and owners need to be able to accommodate new tenants without having to make significant structural changes.

Future-proofing buildings is about choosing the right design and material, she said. Picking steel over wood, for example, could make a building easier to modify down the line. The company’s new anchor for the Dovetail deck is a hanging ceiling solution that can be easily repositioned without the need to drill into the ceiling and disrupt operations. This allows building owners to adapt their asset to meet any tenant’s needs, without having to make costly, complex changes, she said. 

Owners should also go beyond conferring with their general contractors and reach out directly to manufacturers, Chiu said. Material suppliers like Vulcraft and Verco can inform owners directly about what is in their pipeline and why they should encourage their team to choose a particular design path based on what will be available. And the earlier they are involved in the discussion, the better, she said. 

She added that owners should also be asking questions about whether particular design options can help with speed-to-market. 

“For an owner in the middle of a build, every day means more dollars spent,” Chiu said. “We've been working with our customers to understand how they can use our products and erect buildings faster and have been designing new products with speed in mind.”

As a large national company, Vulcraft/Verco has teams that are solely focused on outreach and supporting clients as they make these key decisions, Chiu said. The company wants to act as a resource people can turn to in order to become more informed about the structural design process and feel confident that they are making the right choices. 

“We don't just care about your roof and your floor systems, which is where our products go directly,” she said. “We care about your entire project, and we take our expertise and our experience and apply them to every aspect of your build.” 

This article was produced in collaboration between Nucor Vulcraft/Verco and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.