Grove Isle’s soil offers limited lateral resistance, and the site sits in a high-velocity hurricane and flood zone where the structure must withstand both wind and storm-driven wave forces. To distribute those loads, DeSimone Consulting Engineering structurally tied the ground slab into the column and shear wall foundations, spreading forces throughout the foundation system rather than concentrating them at individual shear walls. The residences begin above the flood plain.

Photo courtesy of CMC Group

Graduated cantilevered terraces extend outward at each successive level. Engineers improved efficiency by sloping perimeter columns in the same direction as the cantilevers, redistributing loads while maintaining uniform slab thickness. Constructing the sloped columns required advanced multi-tier shoring systems and precisely calibrated formwork.

Because of the curved structure’s size, it could not be poured as a single continuous slab. Instead, concrete was placed in three segments separated by expansion joints, with an additional pour strip left open in the center and filled after adjacent concrete had cured, allowing shrinkage to occur before the structure was made continuous.

Mixes were designed to achieve strengths of 7,500 to 8,000 psi, with admixtures maintaining slump up to 9 in. in vertical elements so the concrete could flow through dense reinforcing cages while curing densely enough to resist chloride intrusion at the water’s edge.