eNewsletter

Selected articles from our most recent eNewsletter:

Message from the Firm


Back to School

October marks the beginning of fall, leaves are changing, kids are back to school and we look forward to the holiday season. This is also the time of year for many of us when we start budget discussions and development of training and marketing plans for the next year. And, they are likely to be tough discussions. Although the economy continues to show promises of a bright future, it still leaves many struggling today. We hope we can help.

As you plan your training and educational efforts for the next year, we hope you'll keep SMBH in mind. In an effort to respond to your needs, SMBH has become an approved Registered Provider through the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System (CES). The AIA CES program provides us with the opportunity to provide you with the necessary continuing education credits you need, while gaining valuable insight. Better yet, there is no need to travel. We'll come to your office and provide a free presentation on Design Loads, Structural Framing Systems and Foundation Systems. As a Registered Provider, we also have the opportunity to add other topics to our program offering, and we are interested in hearing what topics interest you and your staff.

In the spirit of learning, we also invite you to share ideas on how we can help you as you prepare for a new year. Building on our core values of RESPONSIVENESS, INNOVATION and RELATIONSHIP, we treasure your input.

Sincerely,

Shelley Metz Baumann Hawk

Project Spotlight

Mount Carmel St. Ann's Medical Office Building Addition
Westerville, Ohio

Located in northeast Columbus' Westerville neighborhood, Mount Carmel St. Ann's is a community hospital with the clinical capabilities of facilities far larger. With a state-of-the-art emergency department, maternity ward and cancer center, patients are able to get a personal healthcare experience without sacrificing quality of care.

SMBH, Inc. served as the structural engineer on the unique 38,000 square foot addition to the existing office building, which included an attached linear accelerator building with up to 8 foot thick concrete walls. One of the challenges SMBH faced was the owner's desire to use a thin supported floor slab on steel bar joists. Due to the joist spans, controlling vibration and upstairs file loading areas were major concerns during the design phase. During construction, as spaces were leased, more reinforcing was installed to meet the need of some very heavy medical equipment to be placed on the elevated floor slab.

SMBH was also challenged with some intricate dimensioning required to support the brick shelf angles. This was particularly difficult in the southwest corner of the addition where it connects to the original structure.

Read more about this project.