Architect Reuses Northstar Beams in
New Home
By Graham Thiel
When Truckee, CA, based architect David Burke learned that a substantial amount
of reusable building materials were coming out of the local
clock-tower building at Northstar Ski Resort, he jumped at
the opportunity to integrate the material into his new home.
East West Partners (Northstar's developers) had originally
planned to reuse the materials in a police station or community
center, but the idea was rejected because of cost and logistical
issues.
Working as a project architect for the reconfiguration, Burke
was able to familiarize himself with the material, the openness
in design required to effectively incorporate them, and the
concepts involved in reuse. When the materials became available,
he went to work on a project of his own.
The original design of his new home specified the use of
the 4”x12” Douglas fir #1 beams that served as
the support structure for the 12,000 square-foot roof. However,
upon learning that the majority of the 300 4x12s were destined
for onsite reuse by Northstar, Burke quickly returned to the
drawing board and redesigned his home to include 120 available
6”x12” Douglas fir #1 beams. Several phone conversations
and structural calculations later, David Burke was back to
inspect the 6x12s that had been deconstructed and prepared
for sale.
Meanwhile the clock tower building was being deconstructed
in strict accordance to the engineered demolition plan prepared
by Joe Shields of Ferrari and Shields, a Reno based engineering
firm. The engineered demolition plan called for the systematic
disassembly of the material in 16’x16’ structural
bays. The bays were first unbolted from the interior and the
decking was marked and cut. Each bay was then put on tension
by the 60 ton crane operated by Sierra Crane Service, while
the glue laminated beams were cut from their attachment points
with chainsaws from below. The 3,500 pound bay was then raised
from its installation point within the building and lowered
to the plaza below, where it was disassembled into components.
The 2x6 tongue and groove flooring was pried and separated
for onsite chipping, the 6x12s were pulled from their joist
hangers, denailed and cleaned, and the glue laminated beams
were staged for transportation via forklift.
With Jose la Cruz Crawford and Jason Hughes serving as job-site
sales managers, the 120 6x12s were exchanged at a cost of
$4.99 per linear foot. The linear feet totaled 1,620, which
totaled $8,084 plus tax. The same materials purchased new
would have run Burke about $13,660 plus tax.
All that was left was a call to Pete Bunyan of Mobile Saw,
who provided the onsite milling of the 6x12s, the disposal
of the shavings, and loading and transportation.
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