FM Cost Trends

Pre-Engineered Metal Storage Facility

This 7,000-square-foot, 23-foot-high maintenance storage facility consists of a pre-engineered building over a cast-in-place, pier-and-grade-beam foundation and slab on grade. The exterior uses steel, CMU, and brick. The building has four 16-by-14-ft. sectional overhead doors, two each on opposite sides of the building to allow for drive-through lanes. An additional 1,400 square feet of outside storage was created by extending the eave by 12 feet.

The clear-span design maximizes flexible space while gas-fired heaters accommodate winter work. Ten 21-inch tubular skylights provide enough daylight to avoid artificial lighting even on partly cloudy days.

Tilt-Up Concrete Warehouse Center

This 303,000-square-foot, 39-foot-high warehouse and distribution center in Connecticut uses tilt-wall concrete for its exterior and interior walls. The walls were cast on-site using the floor slab as a platform, then tilted up with a crane, and held in place with temporary bracing until the roof was completed. Due to the load-bearing capacity of the tilt-up walls, the facility did not need perimeter columns, resulting in more usable space.

The tilt-wall construction also helped to meet a tight delivery schedule. The building’s structure also utilizes reinforced grade beam foundations and a slab on grade.