Frost Tower
San Antonio
Best Project

Owner/Developer: Weston Urban/KDC
Lead Design Firm: Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects
General Contractor: Clark Construction Group LLC
Civil Engineer: Pape-Dawson Engineers Inc.
Structural Engineer: Brockette/Davis/Drake Inc.
MEP Engineer: Blum Consulting Engineers Inc.
Architect of Record: Kendall/Heaton Associates

The team behind the $113-million Frost Tower project faced the task of constructing San Antonio’s first office high-rise in nearly three decades, bringing a 21st-century addition to the city’s skyline.

Extensive coordination between city and county officials, project owners, tenants, team members and stakeholders was critical to the project’s success.

The 440,000-sq-ft building is a twisting geometric structure, featuring sloped, glass curtain walls with integrated LED lighting from top to bottom. Each floor of the 23-story building has a unique footprint.

The project team had to meticulously work through glass selections, exterior LED coordination and the design of the curtain wall system to bring the building to life. Four lighting systems were tested on the old Frost Building to help the team make a selection.

Because of its unique shape, the tower required a highly customized variety of table forms that used more than 30 different configurations. The concrete framework subcontractor developed a custom system for all the main girders and beams to allow for flexibility in adjusting the beam lengths.

Among the project’s challenges, numerous underground utility obstructions bordered the project site. Clark performed intensive utility relocations and coordinated with the design team to remedy the conflicts.

Archaeological discoveries were another consideration, as the project sits east of San Pedro Creek, a culturally significant area during the precolonial era. Clark worked with the University of San Antonio’s archaeology department to resequence foundation work so archaeologists could uncover and study historic findings.

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