200 Park

200 Park Avenue in San Jose, California, is a remarkable 19-story, 1.3-million-square-foot commercial office building, reshaping the downtown skyline. The structure encompasses 965,000 sq. ft of Class A office space and 22,400 sq. ft of outdoor terraces with a framing system containing more than 10,000 tons of structural steel.

This architectural masterpiece boasts an innovative lateral-force-resisting system – SpeedCore. 200 Park Avenue featured the first use of SpeedCore in California and the second in the US, integrating composite plate shear walls for both structural resilience and swift construction.

The building’s design integrates two centrally located structural cores, embraced by structural steel framing, providing essential bracing for the tower. The innovative SpeedCore system, enabling concurrent steel erection and concrete pouring, eliminated the conventional delay for concrete core formation. This modular approach expedited construction, leading to an impressive 40% reduction in erection time and saving a remarkable three months of project schedule in total.

Read more about SpeedCore, including its development by structural engineer Magnusson Klementic Associates (MKA), Purdue University, The University of Buffalo, and MKA Foundation, as well as a full profile of 200 Park Avenue’s construction, in the June 2022 Edition of the American Institute for Steel Construction’s publication Modern Steel.

Project Scope:

DBM Vircon collaborated closely with Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA) to provide design assistance, helping to ensure that the full schedule benefits of SpeedCore could be realised. In addition, DBM Vircon’s scope of work for 200 Park included steel modeling & detailing, and modularization.

Steel plated shear walls introduced a transformative structural advancement, notably reducing thickness while adding valuable square footage to the building. This innovation ensured the design and safety considerations were met, which are a crucial factor for premium real estate.

The taller floors within the building needed a distinct sectioning approach for the SpeedCore components, deviating from the standard 14-ft floor-to-floor levels. 200 Park undertook the creation of full-scale mock-ups for core wall segments.

The collaboration between DBM Vircon and Schuff Steel was marked by intensive workshops that yielded significant breakthroughs. By meticulously designing connection plates and coordinating layouts, the teams seamlessly integrated elevator shafts, stair shafts, and piping, contributing to the project’s meticulous coordination. The mock-up emerged as an invaluable asset for the construction teams, substantially reducing the learning curve during on-site work.

Considering the high-seismic region of 200 Park’s location, ensuring a reliable load path at all stages was necessary. Early coordination of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection (MEPF) penetrations was a crucial step for successful SpeedCore implementation. The DBM Vircon team actively engaged in regular design and coordination sessions to promptly finalize the positions and dimensions of SpeedCore penetrations.