“Can you design the structure to support an additional 1.4 million pounds for the rooftop pool we want to include?” While the question wasn’t posed exactly this way, Jezerinac Geers, as always, didn’t shy away from the challenge in designing Park’s Edge, a two-building condominium project located in the Arena district in downtown Columbus.

With views of the Columbus skyline, the elevated pool deck is one amenity that will make Park’s Edge a coveted address when it’s west building is completed in the spring of 2017. The deck, located on the roof of the attached, four-story parking garage, includes a 22’ x 85’ pool, with about 190 tons of water. A large hot tub, lots of open deck, green space, and a covered cooking area, along with the pool itself, all contribute to the additional weight that the parking structure needs to accommodate.

“Our challenge was obviously to design the garage to handle the additional load of the rooftop amenities without breaking the bank to make it happen,” said Rick Geers, principal-in-charge. “We knew we had to maintain the normal construction system of the garage as much as possible, to keep costs in line, while still accommodating the heavier loading.”

The entire project team, which along with our firm, included owner Nationwide Realty Investors (NRI), Columbus Architectural Studio, MKSK, Prater Engineering and Messer Construction spent considerable up-front time on both 12-story condominium towers, as well as the garage. Various framing studies were completed that Messer priced to make sure that we could provide the most cost-effective, buildable structure within the limitations of the budget.

The use of post-tensioning for both structures provided the best balance of economy and performance, particularly for the special conditions like the pool structure in the garage, and the large exterior balcony cantilevers in the condos.

“We’re glad NRI put together such a great project team so that we could roll up our sleeves to make the pool deck work,” Geers said. “It’s what we like to do best – find the right solution for a tough challenge.”