Tall & Urban News

The Olympia DUMBO residential building in Brooklyn, has earned recognition for its innovative engineering, with DeSimone Consulting Engineering playing a key role in achieving the striking sail-shaped design. This 400-foot, (122-meter) 29-story luxury high-rise offers 175,000 square feet (16,258 square meters) of upscale residences atop a 70,000-square-foot (6,503 square meter) podium filled with amenities, including the a private outdoor tennis court on the upper level, pools, a shipwreck-themed playground, and waterpark for kids.

The collaborative, in-house expertise of DeSimone’s structural engineers and façade and building envelope experts brought the architects’ vision to life and earned the company two early accolades with recogntition from The Concrete Industry Board of New York and the UK’s Society of Façade Engineering (SFE). Creative solutions address the building’s unique shape, incorporating sloping columns and high-strength, pre-cast concrete to manage complex loads. The building's façade, which uses custom prefabricated panels for energy efficiency and faster construction, blends visually stunning design with functionality.

Located on a triangular site at 30 Front St., the twisting form tapers down to meet the ground and demanded imaginative structural solutions before it could be realized. Managing the building’s complex loads was addressed by supplementing the traditional vertical column arrangement with sloping columns positioned along the building’s height. This approach effectively balanced the divergent load distribution resulting from the unique shape—and ensured the structure's stability as it achieved its architectural vision. The sloping columns themselves added another layer of complexity to the structural design, because the horizontal forces they generate impact the building’s structural slabs. DeSimone’s engineers worked with the architects to calculate the necessary thickness of the slabs and position of the sheer walls in order to create load paths that would ensure stability. The team employed high-strength, pre-cast concrete as well as lightweight, sustainable, voided concrete slabs to provide longer spans for open spaces in select locations. For the podium, DeSimone introduced a novel technical design which incorporated a bespoke ship lapped precast concrete panel system, windows, and storefront glazing.

Façade engineers devised a customized facade that met the design parameters while making construction more efficient, reducing labor costs, and shortening the project timeline all while contributing to the overall sustainability of the property. Olympia DUMBO’s sustainable features, like natural shading and high-performance glass, further enhance its energy efficiency.