Domino Sugar Refinery

TYLin engineers designed a new 15-story steel and concrete structure within the brick masonry shell of an 1880s refinery, creating 460,000 square feet of Class A office space geared toward the creative and tech industries. The firm’s work has occurred in two primary phases: first, the interior structure was demolished while the masonry walls were shored in place and repaired to improve their soundness and stability.

The second phase of construction permanently braced these walls against a new interior structure featuring a glass and steel vertical extension. Steel arches support a new 30-foot-tall commercial penthouse. The new superstructure also has two cast-in-place concrete lateral cores, centered within the new footprint, that ensconce egress stairs and elevator shafts. Clear-spanning girders connect perimeter columns to internal cores to minimize interior columns.

Project Highlights: 

• As the engineer for both the temporary shoring and the new framing, TYLin was able to largely limit the shoring to the exterior of the building and within the future moat so that the new construction could proceed with minimal interference.
• The new building is enclosed by a glass facade that is inset from the historic brick, creating a continuous interstitial space that functions as a lightwell.

Image credit: Max Touhey