Una Residences Wins NCSEA Outstanding Project Award

The cantilevered, 47-story Una Residences tower in Miami won top prize at the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA) Structural Engineering Excellence Awards, earning Outstanding Project—Residential/Single and Multi-Family Homes.

At the awards dinner (L-R above), former team member Alan Puah and DeSimone Associate Marc Samuel, SE, accepted the award from NCSEA President Brian Petruzzi, PE. The DeSimone team, led by Principal Luis Ramirez, PE, and Senior Associate Sun Oh, PE, SE, brought some impressive game to designing a structure that could support and articulate Una’s visionary, fluid form.

To optimize the tight footprint of the tower and maximize the size of the residences on the upper floors, DeSimone’s structural engineers devised an elegant—and unconventional—solution: a visually dynamic, load-bearing cantilever supported by a sophisticated system of reinforced concrete transfer elements and sloped columns that together support expanded floors above. Beginning at the 15th floor, the floor plates expand incrementally outward as the building rises, reaching a maximum projection of 33 feet at the 19th floor that continues up the full height of the building.

A defining challenge stemmed from bringing together the parking and residential layouts, as typical column locations required for parking circulation did not align with the residential layout above. To create a seamless transition between both programs, we introduced “walking” perimeter columns, with some incorporating kinks of up to approximately 25 degrees. These columns carry combined gravity and lateral forces, creating complex, multi-directional load paths achieved through advanced structural analysis and precise detailing.

Our structural design leverages outrigger trusses, walking columns, cantilevers, a complex lateral system, and one of the deepest below-grade parking structures in South Florida to create a spectacular waterfront presence.

Una Residences has also won a Roger H. Corbetta Out of Area Award from the Concrete Industry Board of New York (CIB) and an Award of Merit in the Residential and Hospitality category from Engineering News-Record (ENR) Southeast and Texas.

DeSimone Team: Managing Principal Luis Ramirez, PE, Associate Marc Samuel, SE

Developer: OKO Group, Cain International; Architect: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architects, Revuelta; MEP: HNGS Consulting Engineers; Civil: VSN Engineering; GC: Civic Construction, Ant Yapi