DeSimone Takes Home Two ENR Southeast Awards
DeSimone took home two Engineering-News Record (ENR) Regional Best Project awards at the Southeast and Texas awards luncheon, sweeping the Residential and Hospitality category with a Best Project win for the ultra-luxury Vita at Grove Isle condominiums and an Award of Merit for the innovative, 47-story Una Residences—both in Miami.
On hand to accept the awards for both projects was DeSimone Principal Danilo Nanni, PE, a leader of the engineering team behind the structural design of Vita at Grove Isle. The boutique complex, set on a private island in Coconut Grove, features three interconnected structures, named Mare, Luce, and Sole (Sea, Light and Sun) that forms half-moon arc tracing the curved contour of the Biscayne Bay shoreline. Our structural engineering team designed a cast-in-place, reinforced concrete structural system addressing the challenges posed by the structure’s unique form, vulnerable coastal location, poor soil conditions, existing pile obstructions, and more.
To support the cantilevers, we placed sloping columns at the perimeter that cant in the same direction, efficiently redistributing loads from the cantilevered terraces without the need to increase slab thickness. To execute the sloping columns, the team utilized advanced, multi-tier shoring systems and precisely calibrated formwork.
For the sculptural, nautical-inspired Una Residences tower, also on the edge of Biscayne Bay, DeSimone’s structural engineers designed an advanced, reinforced concrete structure with a visually dramatic, load-bearing cantilever system that optimizes the tight footprint and supports expanded floor plates beginning at the 15th floor. Achieved through an innovative system of reinforced concrete transfer elements and sloped columns, the cantilever reaches its maximum projection of 33 feet at the 19th floor.
The structure also features outrigger trusses, walking columns, a complex lateral system, and one of the deepest below-grade parking structures in South Florida.
Pictured (L-R): Rafael Pina, PE (Langan), Danilo Nanni, Leonardo Rodriguez (Langan)
Vita Project team: Developer/GC: CMC Group, Architects: Arcadis, S&E Architects, Civil: Langan MEP: HNGS Engineers, and DeSimone engineers Managing Principal William O’Donnell, PE, SI, FRSE, Principal Danilo Nanni, PE, and Sr. Project Manager Yamilet Penuela, PE.
Una Project Team: Developer: OKO Group, Cain International, Architects: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architects, Revuelta, MEP: HNGS Consulting Engineers, Civil: VSN Engineering, GC: Civic Construction, Ant Yapi, and DeSimone engineers Managing Principal Luis Ramirez, PE, Associate Marc Samuel, SE.
