vPoint Apartments
- Location: Arlington, VA
- Scope: Sheeting, shoring and underpinning
- General Contractor: Bozzuto Construction
- Category: Commercial
The Project
vPoint Apartments is a mixed-use, reinforced concrete building with a church located on the first two levels and 46 apartments, including 70 affordable housing units, on the upper eight floors. The project, a collaboration between Arlington County, the First Baptist Church of Clarendon and the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, required the demolition of a major portion of the existing church facility but preserved the structure’s steeple and narthex.
New facilities for the church, including a sanctuary, were incorporated into the new 10-story, masonry building. The project also includes a major renovation to the existing three-story education wing at the rear of the site, as well as a new three-story below-grade parking garage.
Steele Foundation was tasked to perform sheeting, shoring and underpinning for the vPoint Apartments, with the assurance that the steeple was adequately supported during construction.
Why Steele Foundation?
We have a long history with this client, who recognized Steele Foundation’s ability to design and construct a properly priced engineered foundation solution for this project.
In this particular case, the steeple was being preserved and incorporated into the new building. Existing buildings on the site that needed appropriate support required Steele Foundation’s expertise and knowledge to complete the project successfully.
Challenges and Results
Our biggest challenge was dealing with the difficult urban ground conditions that included wet silty sands at the bottom of the excavation that were prone to collapse. This challenge required a true understanding of underpinning. Our most experienced field craftsmen used methodical techniques to advance the underpinning pier excavation through the collapsing soils.
Since the steeple was being preserved and incorporated into the new building, it needed to be internally shored to make sure it was stable for the demolition. This was accomplished through field-fabricated steel frames attached to the existing masonry walls. Our team then had to underpin the steeple to accommodate the 30’-deep excavation adjacent to the structure.
All of these challenges were met and the client was delighted with the outcome.