Starbucks at Waterfront

When Oracle Corporation decided on a non-traditional, sinuous design for a new Starbucks kiosk in the main lobby of their new 560,000-sf headquarters building in Austin, Texas, they put Walter P Moore's multi-discipline project acceleration capabilities to the test.

Oracle's main building was almost complete when they struck a deal with Starbucks to be the coffee vendor in the main lobby. Starbuck's designers opted for a distinctive structure enclosed with a curving cantilevered façade. In response, Walter P Moore expanded our structural engineering services for the overall complex to include structural design for the kiosk and specialized construction modeling.

The new kiosk required an independent structural steel frame atop new concrete footings — some of which were to resist sustained uplift forces — and an integrated cold-formed steel wall and ceiling framing system. The entire structure was designed and constructed within the existing lobby space 75 days before Oracle occupied their new complex.

First, we created an integrated digital workflow to model, find the form, optimize and design as a fully integrated structural solution, the structural frame, cold-formed metal infill systems, and façade support structure.

Then, with the enthusiastic support of the steel fabricator with whom we had collaborated on prior integrated project delivery, Walter P Moore's specialized construction engineering team developed a fully connected and detailed model of the steel frame and cold-formed metal system that allowed the steel fabricator to skip the traditional, time-consuming steps of preparing, coordinating, and approving shop drawings.

Walter P Moore further accelerated the project by providing complete modeling and layout drawings of the reinforcing steel for the foundations. Our integrated, fabrication-level models for rebar, cold-formed steel system, and structural steel frame simultaneously reduced the risk of conflicts among the materials in the field and enabled further efficiencies in the construction process. For example, our construction team developed a highly efficient erection sequence for the frame, specifying all field connections to be bolted. Our integrated approach shortened the steel fabrication duration for the custom, 600-sf structure to just five days and allowed its erection in just three days. As a result, the distinctive kiosk was completed on time for occupancy, delighting both owner and Oracle employees.