< Previous— Post Houston p/ 30 2023 X STAIR AND PICKET RAILING — IN THE THEATER ATRIUM 03p/ 31 Case Study — Synergi LLC— Post Houston p/ 32 2023 IN THIS CASE, SYNERGI UNCOVERED AN OPPORTUNITY TO ALTER THE PRECAST TREAD DESIGN TO EXPEDITE THE RAILING INSTALLATION. The Original Plans The design of the X stair essentially called for a series of precast concrete treads, aligned and overload atop one another to create the steps on the stair’s structure. Once po- sitioned, these concrete treads would be welded into place. The picket railing would then be affixed to the stair treads. Execution As-Drawn (Typical Installation Process of Guardrail into Concrete) The installation of picket guardrails with precast or stone treads traditionally requires drilling into the treads and removing the “core”, leaving holes into which the railing is inserted and secured. This process of coring for each hole is timeconsuming and can leave unsightly holes and spaces at the bottom of the railing, often requiring cover plates around each picket – a further time and cost commitment – for a seam- less, clean finish. Extra care must be taken throughout the process as drilling so close to the edge can crack or break off a section of the tread (pictured, above), posing the risk of additional cost. THE X STAIR & PICKET RAILING IN THE THEATER ATRIUM 03p/ 33 Case Study — Synergi LLC Below, top. Below. Drilling close to the concrete's edge can easily result in unsightly cracks or breakage. Original plans entail precast treads (outlined in blue) to which guardrail is attached by way of coring holes with a drill. Below, bottom. This diagram depicts a typical cover plate at the base of a railing post.— Post Houston p/ 34 2023 Synergi's process Through the design-assist process, Synergi uncovered an opportunity to alter the precast tread design to expedite the railing installation. Working with the subcontractor respon- sible for the treads, the team at Synergi determined this multistep process could be circumvented if block-out holes were precast into the treads. The concrete could be cast into treads around a fixture that, upon its removal, would leave clean block-out holes already in place for the insertion of the picket guardrail. Once onsite, the treads would have to be welded into place with great accuracy to minimize dimensional intolerances that would prevent the insertion of the picket rails into the precast holes without the need for drilling. Although not in its scope of work, Synergi developed the detailed drawings for the precast holes in the treads. Ac- companying the drawings, Synergi designed and fabricated custom fixtures - i.e. “jigs” - that would expedite installa- tion and ensure accurate placement of the treads. Rather than trying to line up the treads to the drawings and then maneuvering the rails to line up to the treads, the treads were aligned by inserting the “standardized” jig into the the precast picket holes as reference points, prior to welding the treads in final position. SYNERGI PROVIDED SYSKETCH INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PRECAST INSTALLER, ILLUSTRATING HOW TO USE THE SPACER JIGS.p/ 35 Case Study — Synergi LLC DUE TO THE SLENDER PROFILE OF THE PICKET RAIL, DESIGNING THE PRECAST INSTALLATION FIXTURE INVOLVED EXTENSIVE GEOMETRY, LAYOUT, AND FIELD SURVEY WORK TO ALLOW FOR CAST IN PLACE BLOCK-OUT HOLES INTO WHICH THE BRASS PICKETS COULD BE INSERTED. Jigs and fixtures are manufacturing and installation tools used to produce and align identical and interchangeable components. Guiding devices for the machining and assembly of parts, jigs and fixtures help make manufacturing processes more efficient and precise. A jig controls and guides work at a predefined location on a workpiece.— Post Houston p/ 36 2023 THE CUSTOM JIGS HELPED MAKE THE INSTALLATION PROCESS MORE EFFICIENT AND PRECISE BY GUIDING THE ALIGNMENT AND CONTROLLING INTOLERANCES, AS WELL AS ENABLING THE PICKET RAILING TO BE PREFABRICATED FOR EASY ONSITE ASSEMBLY. Rather than trying to line up the treads to the drawings and then maneuvering the railing to align with the treads - accom- modating whatever dimensional intolerances had occurred during installation - the treads were aligned by inserting one of two templated jigs into the the precast picket holes as reference points. The two separate sets of custom installation fixtures designed and built for the installer ensured all the treads and tread holes, tread to tread, were correctly distanced from each other - enabling the prefabricated picket railing to simply be “dropped” into place.Case Study — Synergi LLC Text by Step by step. Precast concrete slabs make up the treads of these stairs. The treads are placed onto the stair structure. The treads are aligned using the precast holes as points of reference and the custom jig to finetune placement prior to welding. The prefabricated picket railing is then inserted into the precast hole on the treads. — Post Houston p/ 38 2023 Preserving The Vision In order to fully realize the design intent of the architect, ma- terial selection was fully considered for each aspect of every staircase. For the X staircase, a slender anodized aluminum picket railing was selected by the design team who, through extensive visioning discussions, led Synergi to understand that maintaining the selected material and profile of the rail- ing was crucial to achieving the desired look and feel. When the aluminum railing failed to meet engineering requirments, Synergi opted for brass picket railing as its replacement. Planned in the early stages of design-assist, the modular, prefabricated picket system Synergi integrated – made pos- sible by integrating a custom fixture on the X staircase – cre- ated cost savings, protecting the portion of the stair’s budget needed to execute the brass picket railings as envisioned. Besides ensuring accurate distancing, Synergi’s custom ‘jig’ also allowed for a much smaller hole in the tread – enabling the installer to drop each picket straight into the treads and grout around each one, rather than drilling (eliminating the need for cover plates). Using Synergi’s custom made jig resulted in a vertical picket guardrail that has a clean and crisp transition with matching cement finish transition at each of the 700 bal- ustrade pickets. Polished brass picket railings on concrete treads make up the X staircase.p/ 39 Case Study — Synergi LLC Each picket of the railing was individually wrapped for protection during installation. MAINTAINING THE SELECTED MATERIAL AND PROFILE OF THE RAILING WAS CRUCIAL TO ACHIEVING THE DESIRED LOOK AND FEEL A SLENDER BRASS PICKET RAILING WAS SELECTED BY THE DESIGN TEAM Next >