The environment of Frost Bank’s new five-story Corpus Christi office presented multiple challenges for the structure, including high coastal winds and sandy soil.
Deep piers and pier caps were chosen to provide a base for the building using skin friction to resist the vertical forces. The design team was also conscious of the building placement and foundation assembly because the water table was high in several locations.
The most notable visual features – the substantial cantilevers along the east and south edges of the roof and the five-story cantilevered wall – also presented challenges with Corpus Christi’s high coastal winds. The cantilevered elements of the roof and suspended wall could act as sails for the wind imposed on the building, so these had to be designed for the high wind loads while also meeting the code deflection criteria appropriate for the building’s finishes.
To handle the high coastal wind loads, the team also designed a robust reinforced concrete shear wall system to resist the lateral forces applied to the building. The shear walls had to be strategically located and closely coordinated with the architecture to limit the effects of lateral torsion.
Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
Size: 67,000 sf
Client: Frost Bank
Architect: McKinney York
