Rainier Square

Rainier Square is a mixed-use, 58-story tower—the first project to use the innovative SpeedCore system, which allowed the project to go up in 43% less time than a traditional concrete core would have taken.  

SpeedCore is a structural steel system that uses modular, prefabricated, concrete-filled, composite-plate steel shear wall (CF-CPSW) panels to create a high-rise tower’s structural core quickly and cost-effectively. Originally designed to be built with a traditional, reinforced concrete core surrounded by structural steel, composite floor framing, the project benefited from the forward-thinking mindset of developer Wright Runstad and Company, who recognized the opportunity to save time and money by erecting the tower’s structural core using SpeedCore.

SpeedCore lived up to its name, shortening the original 32-month construction schedule by ten months versus using a traditional core system. At the pace of four floors per week, erection occurred at a lightning-fast tempo compared to traditional cores (one floor every three to five days). In addition, implementing SpeedCore eliminated the challenges of expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive processes such as setting formwork, installing reinforcing steel, placing embedded plates, and the level-by-level concrete placement and curing associated with reinforced concrete cores found in most high-rise buildings.

Completing Rainier Square ahead of schedule allowed the owner to save money in construction-loan carrying costs and general construction operating costs. Opening sooner provided an earlier revenue stream for the owner to lease office floors, retail spaces, and apartment units. If you visit Rainier Square today, you can witness the project team’s pride in SpeedCore. Sections of the structural core’s CF-CPSW panels have been left uncovered and exposed in different parts of the lobby, allowing visitors to touch the raw steel plates and tie-rod welds, and read a bronze plaque to learn about SpeedCore’s innovative nature.