The Rush Creek Golf Club is an 18-hole championship golf course, which has hosted many national events over the years. VAA partnered with the architectural team to provide structural engineering design services for the original club house and the club house addition, which more than doubled the building size providing new offices and meeting/banquet rooms. More specifically, the addition to the club house added upper level meeting rooms, a large main level banquet room, and a golf cart storage and maintenance area located at the lowest level. This golf cart storage area extended below the building and out into the space between the addition and the existing building, creating a patio area over-looking the course perfect for outdoor events.
The club house incorporated many different structural systems including wood trusses at the roof and steel bar joists supporting a composite concrete floor slab for the second floor. The main floor was constructed using precast concrete plank founded on cast-in-place concrete foundation walls. The varieties of structural systems were part of our design solution to better acoustically isolate each room, such that meetings or parties are not interrupted by the events next door. These structural systems also provided stiff and dampened floors to resist floor vibration and perceptible floor bounce.
Of particular challenge, with any remodel project, is the link between the new addition and the existing building where foundations and floors must align. For this project the contractor and design team did their homework to ensure a seamless transition in the final product. This link also incorporated a unique barrel vault, constructed out of steel and wood that accommodated the architect’s vision.
Returning to work with this client a second time remained rewarding. The addition construction schedule spanned through the cold weather in Minnesota prompting special consideration for product selection and cold weather construction practices.
