Patent Publication Number: US-7581363-B2

Title: Method for constructing a multistory building

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/273,374, filed Mar. 5, 2001, entitled Method for Constructing a Multistory Building, which is incorporated herein by reference. 

   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not applicable. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a method for constructing a building using poured-in-place concrete-tunnel construction methods. The present invention is especially applicable to buildings having a distinct superstructure and substructure. More particularly, the present invention provides a method for constructing such a building without the need for a load transfer deck. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method for spacing and extending load-bearing walls in the superstructure and the substructure such that load-bearing members in both structures are vertically aligned. 
   Construction of buildings using tunnel forming has been utilized for many years in the construction of multistory concrete buildings. Tunnel forming allows the walls and floor of a certain level of the building to be poured simultaneously. This method greatly reduces the costs associated with multistory concrete construction. There are many structures used in the tunnel forming process, such as those that are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,439,064, 4,261,542, and 3,979,919, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
   When designing and constructing multistory structures it is often desired to incorporate several levels of parking spaces into the structure. As an example, it has become commonplace to construct buildings in which several floors of residential units are constructed above some number of floors of parking garage. The architect or designer must take into account the load bearing requirements of both the parking garage and of the residential units. The limitations on the arrangement of load-bearing members in a parking garage are very different from the limitations on the arrangement of load-bearing members in a series of residential units. 
   Parking garages must typically provide accessible parking spaces in units that are approximately equal to an integral multiple of a standard car width. In order to avoid excess costs associated with larger spans, the integral multiple is typically small, e.g. two or three. Thus, relatively inexpensive parking garages will have parking bays that are two or three car widths wide. In addition, wide access lanes are needed to allow cars to enter and exit the parking spaces. In addition, it is often desirable for security reasons to allow transverse visual access to the parking bays. Thus, there are several mechanical, cost, security, and other constraints on the positioning of vertical load-bearing members in a parking garage. 
   At the same time, it is often desirable to configure residential units in a manner that is not constrained by the configuration of the load-bearing members in levels below the residential unit. If the layout of the load-bearing members in the residential structure does not vertically align with the layout of the load-bearing members in the underlying parking structure, it is necessary to provide a transfer deck. 
   Transfer decks are well known in the art and comprise rigid planar structures that allow vertical loads to be transferred from load-bearing members on one side of the transfer deck to non-vertically-aligned load-bearing members on the other side of the transfer deck. Because the transfer deck is subjected to very large shear and bending forces, it is typically quite massive and therefore expensive. 
   A primary objective of one embodiment of the present invention is to eliminate the transfer deck therefore decreasing costs of construction. 
   Another objective of one embodiment of the present invention is to provide advantageous layouts to both a parking garage and to residential units while keeping load-bearing members in vertical alignment. 
   Yet another objective of one embodiment of the present invention is to reduce the costs associated with construction of a building that integrates a substructure and a superstructure with substantially different configurations. 
   Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a building system in which the substructure and the superstructure utilize the same construction methods and materials (forms), thus further reducing costs and time of construction and making it possible for a single work team to construct the entire building. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   According to a preferred embodiment, a multistory building can be built without a transfer deck even when it is desired to provide very different configurations in the substructures and superstructures. For example, in the case of a building having a parking garage as its substructure and residential units as its superstructure, the present invention makes it possible to avoid the expense of a transfer deck, while providing desirable residential configurations and a maximum number of parking units per unit area. 
   The present invention makes it possible to provide advantageous layouts to both a parking garage and to residential units while keeping load-bearing members in vertical alignment. The present invention also provides a building system in which the substructure and the superstructure utilize the same construction methods and materials (forms), thus further reducing costs and time of construction and making it possible for a single work team to construct the entire building. 
   In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the load-bearing members in the residential structure (hereinafter “upper load-bearing members”) are aligned vertically, as is well known in the art. At the same time, load-bearing members in the parking structure (hereinafter “lower load-bearing members”) are vertically aligned with the upper load-bearing members. However, instead of providing continuous support along the length of each upper load-bearing member, the lower load-bearing members are configured to provide columnar support. Correspondingly, the upper structure is provided with an interface level as its lowest level. The load-bearing members at the interface level are configured to span the columnar supports provided by the lower load-bearing members. In this manner, the present invention provides the versatility of a column-and-plate structure (such as is provided by a transfer deck), but at the lower cost of a load-bearing system. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For an introduction to the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, reference is made to the following accompanying drawings wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a plan view of a representative first floor of a building having a substructure configured as a garage and constructed in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a plan view of a representative second floor of the building of  FIG. 1  having a superstructure configured as residential units; 
       FIG. 3  is a plan view of a representative third floor of the building of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is an elevation of the building of  FIGS. 1-3 , illustrating the tunnel configuration; 
       FIG. 5  is an elevation of a section view, taken along section line  5 ′ of  FIG. 4 , of a structure through a vertical support; and 
       FIG. 6  is an elevation of a section view, taken along section line  6 ′ of  FIG. 4 , of a structure through another vertical support. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The present invention provides for the vertical transmission of loads through a superstructure and into a substructure while allowing both the sub- and superstructures to be configured in a cost effective and desirable manner. In addition, the present invention eliminates the need for a transfer deck, thereby significantly reducing the cost of structures built according to the invention. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 1 , the columnar nature of load-bearing members around the perimeter of the parking level can be seen. Specifically, the perimeter of the parking level is provided with a plurality of double-column supports  12  interspersed with a plurality of single-column supports  18 . Each double-column support  12  comprises an inner support  14  and an outer support  16 . A plurality of inner linear load-bearing members  20  is provided along the main axis  17  of the structure. Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the interface level, which comprises the lowest level or levels of the upper structure, is provided with a plurality of upper linear load-bearing members  30  interspersed with a plurality of wall beams  40 . At their respective inner ends, upper load-bearing members  30  and wall beams  40  are vertically aligned with inner load-bearing members  20 . At their respective outer ends, upper linear load-bearing members  30  are vertically aligned with inner supports  14 , while wall beams  40  are vertically aligned with single-column supports  18 . 
   This configuration allows both the parking and residential portions of the structure to be constructed using concrete “tunnels” as are known in the art and disclosed and described in the U.S. Patents mentioned above. The tunnel configuration can be clearly seen in  FIG. 4 . The use of poured-in-place concrete tunnels reduces the time and cost required for construction. Each tunnel extends from the main axis  17  to the perimeter of the structure, so that each level is formed by a plurality of side-by-side tunnels, which may or may not have identical lengths. As can be seen, the tunnels forming the interface level are as long as the tunnels forming the parking level,  FIGS. 1 and 2 , while the tunnels forming the levels above the interface level are shorter ( FIG. 3 ). In a preferred embodiment, all but one of the walls of the tunnels forming the interface level is shortened, thereby providing the extending wall beams  40 . If desired, only the side walls of the tunnels forming the interface level could be as long as the parking level tunnels. By shortening some of the side walls, a larger, roofless terrace  54  is formed between each extending wall beam  40 . 
   In reference to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , in a preferred embodiment, the walls between adjacent tunnels on the parking level are opened below each wall beam  40 . The opening preferably extends to less than the full height of the tunnel, so that the portion of the wall above the opening forms a beam  56 . In certain walls, the opening  51  formed in this manner provides both a drive aisle  50  and an unobstructed three-car bay  60 . In other walls, separate openings are left. One opening forms drive aisle  50  and the other opening  52  allows transverse visual access along the bays. Openings  52  can extend from floor to ceiling, if desired, whereas it is preferred that the height of the drive aisle opening be limited so that a beam  58  is left in each tunnel to span drive aisle  50 . As is shown in  FIG. 1 , in one embodiment, it is preferred to alternate one-car bays with three-car bays, resulting in each pair of double-column supports  12  being separated from the next by a single-column support  18  and allowing four parking spaces to be placed in the width of three adjacent tunnels, as best seen in  FIG. 1 . 
   Thus it can be seen that a building constructed in this manner will have the following features: a substructure including a drive aisle  50  and a plurality of parking spaces  62  and comprising a plurality of parallel, adjacent, poured-in-place tunnels  64  ( FIG. 4 , shown in phantom in  FIG. 1 ), each tunnel including a transverse drive aisle opening therethrough 
   The substructure preferably includes: a plurality of first tunnel walls  66  each having a first length  68  and a drive aisle opening  51  therethrough ( FIG. 5 ), the drive aisle openings  51  in the first tunnel walls being wide enough to accommodate a parking space in addition to the drive aisle; and a plurality of second tunnel walls  69  each having a second length  70  and a drive aisle opening  72  therethrough ( FIG. 6 ); and a plurality of parking spaces in the substructure, the parking spaces being designated such that a set of three adjacent tunnels  64  includes at least four parking spaces ( FIG. 1 ), with two tunnels encompassing three spaces such that the middle space is centered under the wall between the two tunnels. This feature is illustrated in phantom at  67  in  FIG. 1 . 
   The substructure preferably also includes an interface level comprising a plurality of parallel, adjacent, poured-in-place tunnels  64 . The interface level includes: a plurality of third tunnel walls  86  vertically aligned with first tunnel walls  66  and having a third length  88 , the third length being at least as great as the first length  68 , and a plurality of fourth tunnel  89  walls vertically aligned with second tunnel walls  69  and having a fourth length  90 . 
   The present building preferably further includes a superstructure  92  ( FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  5 ) that comprises a plurality of parallel, adjacent, poured-in-place tunnels having walls that are each vertically aligned with one of the first and second tunnel walls. 
   A system constructed in this manner maximizes the number of parking spaces that can be provided under a separate structure, without necessitating a costly transfer deck. It will be understood that the concepts disclosed herein can be expanded or modified to provide any number of configurations. By opening the side walls of the tunnels and controlling the height of the openings, and providing an interface level that includes spaced wall beams, the versatility of tunnel construction is greatly enhanced.