Courthouse Square in Wheaton, Illinois, is many things. At the heart of the development is the landmark DuPage County Courthouse built in 1896. Updated in 2006, the red, terra-cotta and scone, Romanesque building and bell tower houses luxury condominiums fitted with bronze window screens, Wolf appliances and Kohler air-jet bathtubs.
But, it’s “Condo Building Two” that’s truly interesting. The eight-story structure was built with two types of steel – hot-rolled steel and cold-formed steel. The hybrid gives condo buyers what they want -spacious rooms, large windows, intriguing floor plans and the freedom to move their walls.
This case study, provided by the Steel Framing Industry Association, contains information about how cold-formed steel allows a structure to be filled with both architectural features and interior layout flexibility.