Rethinking the store’s structure from the top down was necessary as the intended agricultural use required substantial mechanical systems to be placed on a roof that was not meant to carry a lot of construction equipment.

Working with existing structures inevitably requires a keener understanding of how things get built. A design may look good on paper, but can the contractor build it?

Instead of costly reinforcements, we designed frames that could span whole bays, bypassing the existing roof and supporting directly off existing columns. Our team then addressed the impacts from the roof all the way down through the foundations, finding cost savings that quickly covered our own design fees and turned a profit for the client.

The Structural Group worked with the contractor to understand crane reaches and capacities. The structural components were designed to accommodate those limitations.

A big box store has been successfully recycled into an urban, indoor farm.  Micro greens to salad mixes as well as jobs now flourish at the site. The new farm is located just minutes from the Chicago’s loop.  Check out Wilder Fields.