Hampton Inn

Over 15 years ago this five-story project was constructed with SigmaStud® and StiffWall®. The Hampton Inn in Dunn, NC is a classic example of our continued dedication to educate and assist the industry on ways to build projects cheaper, stronger, and faster.

The original project design was load-bearing concrete blocks with alternate walls for bearing. However, concern lurked that the cmu would be too much load for typical spread footings. Concrete block also has general construction grievances that it is expensive, and timely to install since a cmu wall has height limitations on how high the wall can be raised daily. This project was an ideal candidate for a TSN design assist.

The Engineer-of-Record on the Hampton Inn in Dunn initiated the design assist by bringing this project to The Steel Network’s team of Engineers. The design assist resulted in switching all 5 stories of this project from concrete block to cold-formed steel-framing. This modification immediately provided a substantial savings in materials. The project then moved forward with a composite deck slab, SigmaStud® for the load-bearing members, and a reduced budget.

Since the structure was lightened and the loads were redistributed to the foundation, typical spread footings were used with no concerns for exceeding loading capacity. If the project was built with cmu block, costly geo-piers would have been incorporated into the construction; however, the redesign to cold-formed steel framing completely eliminated geo-piers from this project.