THESIS PROPOSAL | BRYAN DARRIN

MILLENNIUM HALL

PHILADELPHIA, PA

BRYAN T. DARRIN

STRUCTURAL OPTION

THESIS PROPOSAL

Structural Depth

The Millennium Hall building on The University of Drexel campus will be

redesigned as a composite steel moment frame, replacing the existing

cast in place concrete frame. This can be accomplished by moving the column

line to the exterior of the building, removing the cantilevered floor slab.
Removing this cantilever will significantly reduce the moments the floor slab
is required to carry. Lighter steel framing can then be utilized with a
composite steel slab to keep the floor system depth to a minimum.

The lateral system will require the steel frame to be a moment frame. When
being designed, material taught in AE534 Steel Connections will be used to
verify each connections capacity. Additional lateral resistance will most likely be

needed in the North/West direction, which will take the form
of shear walls around the elevator core.

The impact on the foundation will also have to be considered. With a different
column layout and a lighter system, the requirements for the foundation will
most likely change.

Breadth Studies

Changing the structural system will have a direct affect on the cost and
schedule of the structure. An in-depth study will be required to see
the impact the redesign will have on both. Once determined, the cost and
schedule of the redesign will be compared to the existing concrete
structure to determine the redesigns feasibility.

By changing the column line in the structure, an architectural study
will all be required. This study will examine the impact on the building
floor plan, as well as the columns interaction with the existing glass
and aluminum curtain wall, which will most likely be used in the
redesign.

(Click image for full PDF )

***A revised version of this proposal has been provided below.
These revisions include minor vocabulary changes and
expanded Breadth descriptions.

(Click image for full PDF )

A Thesis Timeline has been prepared to outline the Spring 2011
schedule for this redesign.

(Click here for a PDF version)

While great efforts have been taken to provide accurate and complete information on the pages of CPEP, please be aware that the information contained herewith is considered a work‐in progress or this thesis project. Modifications and changes related to the original building designs and construction methodologies for this senior thesis project are solely the interpretation of Bryan Darrin. Changes and discrepancies in no way imply that the original design contained errors or was flawed. Differing assumptions, code references, requirements, and methodologies have been incorporated into this thesis project; therefore, investigation results may vary from the original design.

SENIOR THESIS E-STUDIO