Salas O’Brien Design Cuts Costs, Receives 2025 CFSEI Creative Detail Award for Hotel Tower

Salas O’Brien designed the cold-formed steel (CFS) framing for a new 320-key casino hotel tower. The Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI) presented the Creative Detail Award — Second Place honor in the 2025 CFSEI Awards to Salas O’Brien for the CFS design.

The project used extensive prefabricated and pre-finished EIFS CFS wall panels and curtain wall glazing. Most importantly, the design team replaced heavy HSS posts with efficient prefabricated CFS framing. The steel framing reduced fieldwork, streamlined the construction schedule and cut costs.

Salas O’Brien provided the specialty CFS engineering for the casino hotel tower. Manell Companies served as architect of record, while Advanced Exterior Systems delivered the CFS contracting. Their coordinated expertise supported the project’s structural performance and prefabrication goals. Daniel Stadig, P.E., of Salas O’Brien submitted the award entry. 

Salas O’Brien provided all images except where noted. 

The Salas O’Brien design used pre-finished cold-formed steel (CFS) panels to provide tie-back support points. Courtesy of Advanced Exterior Systems.

The Salas O’Brien engineering details show the complexity required to fit the panel tie-backs and supports near the diaphragms.

Special CFS Engineering for Hotel Tower

A prominent design challenge was providing support for the window washing system tie-back points called intermittent stabilization anchors (ISAs). The team needed the pre-finished panels to serve as the support point without requiring extensive field installation.

The original design from the SER assumed the team needed to place HSS posts behind, or embed them in, the wall framing to provide this support. Salas O’Brien created a design that eliminated the HSS posts. Instead, the team allowed a pre-installed support method within the panels using standard CFS material and connectors.

Removing the HSS posts and providing a CFS solution not only gave the necessary support point but also reduced fieldwork. The change incorporated substantial savings into the project.

The solution uses a sandwiched knife plate pinned to stud webs. The team solid-blocked the adjacent stud bays, which allows load transfer to the back side of the framing and into the diaphragms.

Using cold-formed steel (CFS), Salas O’Brien engineered tie-back points called intermittent stabilization anchors (ISAs) to support for the hotel tower’s window washing system. Courtesy of Advanced Exterior Systems.

Complexities Called for Prefabrication

Salas O’Brien’s details show the complexity in just one of the four conditions that demanded a finished prefabricated method. This method had to fit the required panel tiebacks and supports near the diaphragms. The condition shows the ISA height just under the Level 2 slab. At this location, the design already required a spliced reduced section to allow bypass.

The detail highlights the versatility of available framing and clips. CFS engineers can design unique and efficient solutions for complex projects like this one.

Salas O’Brien’s design achieved significant savings compared to the previous HSS post solution. It also allowed the prefabrication and erection schedule assumptions to remain intact as the basis for choosing a prefabrication system.

This Salas O’Brien detail showcases the versatility of using cold-formed steel (CFS) framing and clips to solve complex design needs.

By replacing HSS posts with a CFS solution, the Salas O’Brien team delivered the required support, reduced fieldwork and achieved substantial project savings. Courtesy of Advanced Exterior Systems.

Read the complete story about the CFS engineering for the hotel tower and obtain the complete design diagrams for Salas O’Brien’s 2025 CFSEI Creative Detail — Second Place honor here.

Additional Resources

• Salas O’Brien Wins 2024 CFSEI Award for the Denver International Airport Concourse Expansion Design
• Salas O’Brien Takes Top CFSEI ‘Non-Building’ Award for Colorado Springs Pedestrian Bridge
• 2025 CFSEI Expo: Plan to Attend in Raleigh, N.C. (May 19-21, 2025)