La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant

La Hacienda Restaurant, North Charleston SC. Fine Tuned Structures was the chosen structural engineer to design one of the restaurants for this famous cuisine chain throughout the greater Charleston area in South Carolina. The project is located on Dorchester Road, a busy travel artery in the city of North Charleston. The area of the structure is around 6,600 square feet, which includes 1,600 square feet of exterior roofed dining area. Based on the owner’s criteria and required speed of construction, the project team chose a light frame wood system with steel beams and columns providing support for more structurally demanding central tower and exterior dining area. The architect for the project is Ishwar Dayabhai principal of Architectural Design Workshop, P.C. in Fayetteville, Georgia. The contractor was Harbor Contracting. The design team used Autodesk Revit as a main tool for coordinating the structure with the architectural floor plan and overall building envelope. This allowed the team to collaborate effectively, complete the design and issue permit plans in 6 weeks from engagement. The design is based on the provisions of the IBC 2012 design code with strength level wind speed of 142 mph. The building is capable and detailed to resist a seismic design category D strength earthquake. It is supported on shallow foundations. The design was completed at the end of 2013. The restaurant was completed and welcomed its first clients in June 2016.