The Alexander at Palm Court.
Walton County, Florida
Challenge
The Alexander at Palm Court is a mixed-use building along the prestigious 30-A corridor in Walton County, Florida. This area demands quality, so the challenge faced by the developer was to deliver an affordable product with superior performance characteristics to wood frame construction traditional to the area.
Wood frame, although affordable, does not perform well acoustically, leading to creaking floors and noise transmissions between units. Concrete frame construction would have solved the acoustical problems, but would have priced units beyond the competitive marketplace.
Action
The overriding architectural challenge became designing an economical hybrid construction of load bearing metal stud walls and metal decks supporting a concrete floor slab system to control noise transmission and add a sense of solidness to the building overall.
To accomplish this goal, an “Epicor” structural system was utilized to provide a superior rigid frame structure with 6 and 8-inch-thick concrete floor slabs for superior acoustical properties and excellent stability.
Results
With this innovative design/construction solution, the project was able to meet the developer’s sales/price point target as projected for the marketplace without compromising market-demanded quality.
It also allowed higher ceilings for the first level on-grade retail spaces accommodating amenity businesses to serve residents. The Alexander at Palm Court remains as one of the preferred developments in Seacrest Beach, providing coveted views of the Gulf of Mexico for 21 luxury residential units on 30-A.
