Jonathan E. Aberts

Building Statistics

Part 1:

General Building Data

Building Name:
     Best Buy Main Corporate Building
Location:
     Richfield, MN
Occupants:
     Best Buy corporate employees
Function:
     Office building
Size:
     1.5 million square feet
Number of Stories:
     6
Project Team:
     Owner:
          Best Buy Corp. (www.bestbuy.com)
     Architects:
          Perkins & Will (www.perkinswill.com) - Minneapolis, MN
     Engineers:
          Opus Northwest (www.opuscorp.com) – Minnetonka, MN
     CM:
          Chris Johnson
Construction Dates:
     August 2001 - February 2003
Overall Cost:
     $250 million+
Delivery Method:
     Design Build

Architectural Description:

Building D, also referred to as Building 4, of the Best Buy corporate campus consists of a steel structure enclosed in an architectural precast curtain wall. The building has an open floor plan to allow for partitioned spaces to be easily changed. The structure was built slab on grade, and uses a braced frame system and wide flange steel columns supported by concrete piers. One of the building’s key features noticed from the exterior is the outward sloped wall on the northwest end.

Design Codes:

Minnesota State Building Code – 1998
Uniform Building Code – 1997
Minnesota Plumbing Code – 1998
Minnesota Accessibility Code – 1999
Minnesota Uniform Fire Code – 1998
National Electric Code – 1999
Minnesota Energy Code – 1999
Uniform Mechanical Code – 1991
ANSI Elevator and Escalator – 1996
NFPA Chapter 13 Sprinkler Systems – 1996

Zoning:

City zoned general commercial: C-2

Historical Requirements:

No historical requirements were noted and the location does not fall within the city’s historical district.

Building Envelope and Roof Description:

As previously mentioned the exterior consists of a precast curtain wall and ribbon windows. Best Buy employed a flat roof with a B.U.R. system over a composite deck. The composite deck is largely made up of 3” 20 gauge roof decking with 3¼” of light weight concrete. The curtain wall consists of 6” architectural precast panels tied into the steel structure. A prefinished aluminum closure panel holds the ribbon of windows on each floor.

Part 2:

Structural:

Building D consists of a conventional structural steel system with composite beam floor framing and a braced frame system for lateral support. For each interior bay, the typical beam sizes are W16x26 and most girders sizes are W21x50. The exterior typically uses W18x40 beams and W18x35 girders. Columns vary in size but the typical column sizes W12xXX and W14xXX. The interior bay columns are spaced to create 30’x30’ bays and the exterior bays are 42’6”x30’. The foundation for this structure consists of slab on grade with concrete piers for columns. Wind forces are resisted in this structure by the use of braced steel frames.

Electrical/Lighting:

The electrical system used in the building is 480/277 volt, 3 phase, 3 wire setup. There is also a secondary 120/208 volt, 3 phase, 4 wire system, which is used by most of the transformers on site. Most of the main lighting is provided by fluorescent fixtures with only a few locations using incandescent bulbs.

Mechanical:

The Best Buy Corporate Building D has a mechanical room located on the roof of the building. This building is cooled by 12 AHUs, 2 on each floor. There are also 2 MUA’s on the roof of the building. Each AHU has a fan power of 25,000 CFM and is powered by 480V 3-phase power. A large system of duct work and multiple VAV’s and diffusers are positioned throughout the building to move the air.
 
Fire Protection:

Aside from the standard pull box switches, Best Buy comes complete with a sprinkler fire suppressant. Smoke detectors are placed in all major areas including hallways, elevator shafts, and ducts. The pipes that regulate water throughout the building are located in the stairwells that have a 3-hour fire rating. Spray-on fireproofing is also present on the beams and girders located in the stairwells.

Telecommunications:

Best Buy has 2 data rooms on each floor that house the telecommunications support. Wires are run from the data rooms outward to each room and work area, allowing people both phone and internet access.