Oregon Zoo Forest Lights Towers

Portland, Oregon

This project originated as an urgent request from an art studio client looking to meet their client needs. The structures stand over 30 feet tall and will be mirrored 3 times throughout the grounds of the Oregon Zoo. The towers are a modern structural art piece that includes the use of five stainless steel square tubes crossed perpendicular with other square tubes at different angles and orientations. The horizontal members have freely hanging glass panels hanging at the ends. The unique structures orientation and connections made it a perfect candidate for a SAP2000 3d model to understand the stresses from applied wind and seismic loads using finite element analysis. The members, connections, welds, and panels were carefully reviewed to ensure flexure and deflection remained within reasonable limits during a hazardous event as the structures will be on public display.