Featured image: Alloy, a high rise in Los Angeles, features cold-formed steel (CFS) framing. Images courtesy of CEMCO.
Located in the trendy Arts District in Los Angeles, Alloy is a mixed-use development with 475 residential units and 138,557 square feet of office and retail space. The Arts District is known for trendy restaurants and boutiques with Alloy bringing modern architecture, floor plans and amenities to the urban-infill location.
CEMCO, a member of the Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA), provided the cold-formed steel (CFS) framing members for the project. Alloy features 816 tons of CFS.
CEMCO, a member of the Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA), provided 816 tons of cold-formed steel (CFS) for the Alloy project.
CEMCO is the SFIA 2024 Industry Project Awards winner, in the High-Rise category, for Alloy in Los Angeles. The SFIA Awards entry was submitted by Zachary Peterson of CEMCO.
CEMCO’s win was announced at the 2024 SFIA Awards ceremony held live recently and posted online. The SFIA 2024 Industry Project Awards, an annual awards competition, focuses on CFS manufacturing and construction. This year, designers, manufacturers, distributors and contractors entered a variety of projects in the competition.
Design Quality
Did this project make efficient use of metal framing products?
Steel framing products were a significant part of the exterior and interior build out at Alloy. Awarded LEED® certification, the project was a design-build that required development of structural and nonstructural designs and shop drawings. The designs and drawings became a deferred submittal with the City of Los Angles.
Significant amounts of radiused cold-formed steel (CFS) framing was used on the walls and ceilings at Alloy.
Lightweight cold-formed steel (CFS) expedited the construction process and was cost-effective.
The owner decided to value-engineer several design elements, including asymmetrical columns initially designed as poured-in-place concrete. However, lightweight CFS expedited their construction, lightened the building load and “resulted in the architects’ vision being developed more cost-effectively and expeditiously,” the CEMCO award submission said.
“The reduction of poured-in-place concrete reduced the construction time and improved project scheduling, keeping the project aligned with the targeted budget,” the CEMCO submission added.
The 2024 SFIA Awards judges noted that the design called for “an interesting use of non-loadbearing steel in radius and bends.”
Alloy was a design-build project that required development of structural and nonstructural cold-formed steel (CFS) framing designs.
The owner substituted cold-formed steel (CFS) for poured-in-place concrete to create radiused columns, saving time, money and weight.
Installation Complexity
What difficulties existed on the project?
The project included some challenging CFS framing configurations and logistics.
- The crown element at the top of the building was over 380 feet above ground and was steel framed off of a cantilevered scaffold system
- The lobby and amenity areas included multiple, tiered and radiused light covers with surrounding asymmetrical steel framing
Manufacturing Complexity
Were special materials involved?
Radius CFS tracks and angles were used throughout the project.
Overall Job Quality
How did the completed system turn out?
The steel framing and interior finishing were completed to exacting standards. Significant amounts of radiused steel framing was used on the walls and ceilings. However, CFS was easier to use and less costly than other building materials, the CEMCO submission said.
The cold-formed steel (CFS) crown element at Alloy was over 380 feet above ground.
Using cold-formed steel (CFS) in place of poured-in-place concrete improved project scheduling at Alloy.
Conversion to Steel
How was conversion to metal framing achieved?
The owner substituted a metal framed radius column, which was designed in lieu of a poured-in-place concrete radius. Use of CFS resulted in cost and time savings to the project. The column conversion from concrete to CFS also resulted in a lighter overall structure.
CEMCO is the 2024 SFIA Awards winner in the High Rise category of CFS for the Alloy project. The project also involved SFIA member Foundation Building Materials.
Alloy
525 South Santa Fe Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90013Details:
1 million square feet; 475 residential units and 138,557 square feet of office and retail space; 816 tons of cold-formed steel (CFS) used on the project
PEOPLE
Owner
Carmel PartnersArchitect
Works Progress Architecture and Solomon Cordwell BuenzGeneral Contractor
Nova
SFIA Industry Project Awards
The SFIA 2024 Industry Project Awards focus on cold-formed steel (CFS) manufacturing and construction. A panel of industry representatives judged all 2024 SFIA Awards entries based on the following criteria:
- Design Quality, such as the efficient and sustainable use of CFS products
- Installation Complexity, focusing on conflict resolution, timeframe challenges, etc.
- Manufacturing Complexity, including custom orders, panelization, special material sourcing and more
- Overall Job Quality, including the quality of alignments, finishes and other attention to detail
- Conversion from Alternative Framing Material, reflecting how steel framing lowered a structure’s weight, or added stories, or helped lower the project’s builders’ risk insurance, etc.
About SFIA
The Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA), a unique organization representing steel mills, coil coaters, stud and connector manufacturers, component fabricators, Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI) members, suppliers/distributors, contractors and others, provides members with exclusive access to technical cold-formed steel (CFS) framing services, including CFS certification, environmental product declarations, market data and analysis, technical design guides, specification review services, architectural services, the Steel Framing Learning Portal , the SFIA Awards and more. SFIA is an accredited ANSI Standards Development Organization. Follow SFIA on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Additional Resources
- SFIA Unveils 9 Winners of the 2024 Industry Project Awards
- SFIA Reveals 7 Winners of the 2023 Industry Project Awards in Online Ceremony
- Designers: Update to SFIA’s 2024 Tech Guide for the Latest CFS Load and Span Tables