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Re: archives design--load weight



This is a belated public reply to Lisa’s original message:

Our Diocese recently acquired an historic building in downtown Houston, the
first floor of which will be converted into a chapel.  The Archives is
supposed to move into the top three floors.  The building was largely
unoccupied for years, and there's been a lot of deterioration.  The design
firm/architects (who for complicated reasons aren't working directly for
the Diocese) have assured me that the upper floors "should" bear a load of
50 pounds per square foot.  They informed me that I can therefore have two-
shelf units to store our records, without overloading the floors.  I
informed them in return that two-shelf units are completely impractical in
an archives, and that the floors should bear much more than 50 pounds (we
estimated a minimum of 130 pounds).

Does anyone have design specifics for their facilities, particularly floor-
loading requirements, that they'd be willing to share?  I checked the
archives for this topic, but I found mostly discussions of layout & of
things like carpet vs. tile.  The publications I've checked also tend to
focus on those aspects.

I have been dealing with a near identical issue, also in Houston.  In the process I learned two things that may help Lisa.  First, engineers can beef up floor loads for file rooms using polymer technology on existing load-baring walls and columns so the space that the Diocese wants you to occupy may work if it is willing to make an investment.  Second, the City of Houston will almost certainly have to issue a permit because you are (presumably) changing its usage.  Our structural engineer said that the city would not be inclined to issue such a permit.

Paul R. Scott

Records Management Officer

Harris County, TX