Design Under Load

A data center and geothermal plant near Laugarvatn, Iceland, in climate zone 6A.

The plant's equipment needs the whole floor plate, so there are no interior columns. Open-web joists span the full 75 feet to perimeter girders and heavy steel columns, and the geothermal services run through the joist webs. Drilled piers reach the shallow basalt.

The building has no occupants, so a light-gauge steel curtain wall wraps the frame as a sealed, insulating skin with no openings except for ventilation and emergency access.

Shown alongside the semester's earlier assemblies in light wood framing, light steel and precast concrete.