Article: These 165,000-Pound Columns Will Heft a 38-Story Tower 85 Feet Off the Ground
Article from Popular Mechanics originally posted on June 12, 2018
Near the water in downtown Seattle, there's about to be a skyscaper unlike anything the city—and, well, the world—has seen. A 38-story tower will sit a full 85 feet off the ground, creating a open plaza beneath it, all thanks to the immense strength of the 20 steel and concrete columns that will support it.
Skanska USA’s 2+U project, designed by architectural firm Pickard Chilton, will give Seattle new office space, but the open-air 24,000-square-foot retail, arts, and cultural plaza underneath the tower is the real draw. That, and the 20 enormous columns that hold the tower aloft and ensure that under-the-tower oasis has enough room for its own two- and three-story buildings. Read more...