For the Flexjet, Inc. project located at the Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights, Ohio, Excel Engineering, Inc. of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, designed the exterior cold-formed steel (CFS) framing and the CFS framing for an interior tiered platform. Flexjet, a global leader in private aviation, offers fractional jet ownership and leasing.
The Flexjet global headquarters building is two stories with unique CFS framing details. JLJI Enterprises, Inc., was the CFS specialty contractor for the project. Engineering Resources, Inc., was the engineer or record for the structural work.
The project received the Design Excellence — Honorable Mention in the 2024 CFSEI Awards presented by the Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute. The award entry was submitted by Erik Johnson of Excel Engineering.
Flexjet’s global headquarters involved special exterior and interior cold-formed steel (CFS) framing system designs. Courtesy of Flexjet
Sloping Metal Sills
The Flexjet global headquarters building is two stories with unique CFS framing details. The super-structure is structural steel with precast concrete floors and a metal roof deck.
The building includes over 50,000 square feet of office space. The building design includes a large amount of sloping framing and other special framing details.
Figure 1 shows a detailed elevation of one area with sloping studs. Here, Excel Engineering designed a steel-framed sill, which spans in the weak direction to support the weight of the CFS stud framing above. In the strong direction, the CFS sill supports the wind loads that occur out of plane.
Figure 1. Framing elevation of one area that has sloping studs. Courtesy of Excel Engineering
Excel Engineering worked directly with the engineer of record to provide a special detail for the sloping stud sill. This was necessary because the structural angle ended before the built-up sill framing. So, the design team at Excel Engineering requested the engineer of record to install a knife plate between the double studs where the CFS framing attaches. The knife plate would help support the vertical and lateral loads of the system.
The sill width was another constraint as there is curtainwall glazing on one side and an open-air pass through on the other.
Figure 2. The as-built framing prior to the curtainwall being installed. Courtesy of JLJI Enterprises
Figure 3. Detail of the nearly finished structure. Courtesy of JLJI Enterprises
Figure 2 shows the as-built framing prior to the curtainwall being installed. Figure 3 shows the detail of the nearly finished structure.
Given the shape of the building, with its many angular sections and sharp corners, several CFS framing sections had to be designed to meet the needs of the project.
Figure 4 shows a portion of the as-built framing. and Figure 5 presents the finished building detail of this portion.
Figure 4. A portion of the as-built framing. Courtesy of JLJI Enterprises
Figure 5. A portion of the finished building detail. Courtesy of Flexjet
Detailing the Wing Walls
Several wing walls were designed to accommodate the sloped framing. The wing walls required different detailing depending on the geometry of the walls.
Figure 6 shows the engineering for the framing of a typical wing wall section. Due to the use of round tube steel, Excel Engineering again worked with the engineer of record to have structural steel knife plates installed to support the floating CFS framing. Figures 7 shows the as-built framing wing walls for one section. Figure 8 shows the finished build featuring the wing wall framing.
Figure 6. The engineering of the framing of a typical wing wall section. Courtesy Excel Engineering
Figure 7. The as-built framing wing walls for one section. Courtesy of JLJI Enterprises
Figure 8. The finished build featuring the wing wall framing. Courtesy of JLJI Enterprises
In addition to coordinating with the engineer of record, Excel Engineering’s team held several meetings with JLJI to discuss the detailing and ensure the framing was installed per design drawings.
Read the complete story and obtain the complete design diagrams for Excel Engineering’s 2024 CFSEI Design Excellence — Honorable Mention Award here.
Flexjet Global Headquarters
Honorable Mention — 2024 CFSEI Design Excellence Award
Winner: Excel Engineering, Inc.
Project
Flexjet Global Headquarters
26000 Curtiss Wright Parkway
Richmond Heights, OH 44143
Completion Date
September 2023Construction Cost
$50 millionPeople
Owner
FlexjetArchitect of Record
Richard D. Hebard ArchitectEngineer of Record for Structural Work
Daniel J. Schenkel, Engineering Resources, Inc.Cold-Formed Steel Specialty Engineer
Erik Johnson, Excel Engineering, Inc.Cold-Formed Steel Specialty Contractor
Jason Dalessandro, JLJI Enterprises, Inc.
Additional Resources