Excellence in Architecture

"The apparent complexity of the structure lent itself to prefabrication and a field assembly that was not dependent on the usual orthogonal cut connections, conventional construction techniques, and the structure’s thinness and the lightness. It can only be done with steel." -- Eddie Jones, FAIA, Founding Principal, Jones Studio, 2024 IDEAS² Awards Judge

Three-dimensional graphics chip manufacturer NVIDIA is in the middle of a multi-step project to overhaul its corporate headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. The hexagon-shaped Voyager Building is Phase II of the project, which aims to create a workspace that matches NVIDIA’s core beliefs and help employees thrive and create in a high-tech environment. The high, cavernous ceilings allow for large, open spaces that invoke the outdoors right next to the more intimate workspaces.

The Voyager building has a 275,000 sq. ft footprint with 700,000 sq. ft of working space to accommodate more than 3,000 employees. It’s laid out on a 70-ft triangular grid system that adds a signature look and design to every element. The overall building consists of a two-level, below-grade garage podium under a large exterior shell enclosing multiple seismically separated interior office building structures.

The building’s unique design highlights the owner’s desire for a meaningful, collaborative space at the center of the building--named “the mountain”--where a dark gray staircase leads to mezzanine levels. The reception “base camp” area is on one side of the mountain, with more conventional offices, dining area, and meeting spaces on the other. The 60-ft-tall ceiling features numerous triangular skylights, and the undulating roof structure lets in enough natural light to the center atrium to give employees a feeling of being outdoors.

Structural steel was the only viable option to meet the owner’s desire for the open space with long spans and a seemingly floating roof canopy structure. The design also needed to match the structure of the existing Phase I building at the headquarters campus, its equally impressive smaller sibling next door.

The structural steel was incorporated with other materials, such as glass and wood, to open up the workspaces and provide ample light to the open working areas. The open roof structure was left with exposed steel to express the support structure.

The overall building has three structural design elements: the roof, the office buildings, and the parking structure.

The steel roof structure has buckling-restrained braces (BRBs) at the exterior that are seismically separate from the interior steel structures. The roof framing sits on interior columns with a sliding connection at the top of the column, and the roof consists of insulated metal decking.

Due to the limitation in the length of the braces that could be produced, an intermediate beam breaks the lateral elevation into a multi-level brace frame. Columns and beams are designed for the unbraced middle beam out of plan forces. The BRB frames are supported on the concrete podium structure below.

Interior office structures consist of steel framing that rises to four levels at the center. Four independent structures exist under the roof canopy, each entirely seismically independent. The floor consists of concrete-filled metal deck, and the lateral system consists of BRBs.

Voyager’s parking garage is designed on a 62-ft rectangular grid, with the building above built on a 70-ft triangular grid. Matching the framing and translating it to the concrete parking garage was a significant coordination effort among all design team members.

The exterior shell structure is clad in an all-glass façade with a ring of BRB frames and steel columns supporting a horizontal steel truss roofing system. The BRB frames had a maximum brace length of 57 ft with designed stiffness to handle the seismic demand from the trussed roof system and meet the manufacturer’s deflection requirements for the glass façade.

The truss roof structure translates seismic loading from the interior of the building out to the exterior BRB frames, which are supported on the exterior concrete walls and columns. The steel truss roof mimics the equilateral triangular grid system and is supported by up to 60-ft-tall steel columns with a tributary area of 3,100 sq. ft. The undulating roof changes elevation by 30 ft from its lowest to highest points, giving the appearance of rippling water. A cantilever overhang extends more than 30 ft from where the roof meets the exterior façade and is supported by custom tapered W33 steel beams.

The three-level interior office structure was designed to be seismically separate from the exterior shell and was constructed utilizing structural steel and BRB frames, with concrete over metal deck slabs. Seismic isolation was accomplished by providing bearing and slip joints between the interior and exterior beams and columns.

Columns shared by the interior building and roof shell structure were fitted with a bearing pad connection to release any translated seismic loading, allowing the interior and exterior shell structures to move independently and removing any shared seismic loading. The decision to isolate the interior structure from the exterior shell also allowed the interior BRB frames to be downsized, providing reduced steel weights for a more sound and efficient engineering design and reduced cost. Structural engineers also created a custom bearing connection for the roof structure to sit on top of building columns so the exterior brace frames support the lateral load.

The building design also considered the horizontal displacements, including bridges, stairways, and glass panels, which required the structural engineer’s coordination with the glass manufacturers on how much deflection would occur during a seismic event so that the connections that hold the glass in place are designed to accommodate the movement.

The design team worked closely with the fabricator from an early design stage, and the fabricator used state-of-the-art 3D modeling software, which helped the design team resolve difficult aesthetic challenges before they showed up in shop drawings or in the field. That close coordination gave all disciplines time to work through any potential clashes and resolutions early, created opportunities to explore LEED options, and gave the fabricator time to prepare the steel for exposed conditions to ensure a flawless product.

Owner’s representative: NVIDIA, Santa Clara, Calif.
General contractor: Devcon Construction, Inc., Milpitas, Calif.
Architect: Gensler, San Francisco
Structural engineer: IMEG, San Francisco
Steel team:

• Fabricator and erector: SME, West Jordan, Utah *AISC full member; AISC-Certified fabricator and erector*
• Detailer: DBM Vircon, Auckland, New Zealand *AISC associate member*