2026 CFSEI DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER

SECOND PLACE - COMMERCIAL

McCLURE
10 WORLD TRADE
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

10 World Trade
10 World Trade Center Avenue
Boston, MA 02210

Completion Date: 2025

Owner: Boston Global Investors, EDGE Technologies, Bastion Companies, The Cogsville Group, Massachusetts Port Authority
Architect of Record: Sasaki Associates
Engineer of Record for Structural Work: Thornton Tomasetti
Cold-Formed Steel Specialty Engineer: Josh Garton, P.E., S.E., McClure
Cold-Formed Steel Specialty Contractor: Jeff Montague, Radius Track
Award Entry Submitted by: Josh Garton, P.E., S.E., McClure

Photo and drawings courtesy of McClure except where indicated.

Project Background

10 World Trade is a 17-story, mixed-use building located in Boston’s Seaport district. The completed structure includes approximately 555,250 square feet of laboratory, office and retail space. For this project, McClure served as the delegated/specialty engineer for the radiused, non-bearing cold-formed steel (CFS) systems incorporated throughout the building.

McClure’s engineering responsibilities primarily included designing and coordinating the building’s non-bearing systems. These included the radiused ceiling framing that supports heavy wood panels. It transitions seamlessly from floor to wall to ceiling within key architectural spaces.

The team also designed exterior canopy eyebrow framing and its related connections, bracing and interfaces with supporting structural elements.

Additional responsibilities included the exterior façade framing and various interior radiused wall assemblies throughout the building’s lower levels. These included the oculus, flower boxes and other detailed ceiling features.

Design Challenges and Solutions

Structural Challenges and Design Approach

Courtesy of Radius Track The most significant technical challenge stemmed from the combination of curved geometry, heavy panel loading and the need to coordinate within a highly congested MEP and fire protection environment. The ceiling plenum spaces at 10 World Trade were exceptionally dense, leaving minimal tolerances for conflicts and requiring precise, flexible and installation friendly CFS design.

To address the realities of the coordinated space, McClure developed comprehensive design guidelines for the radiused ceilings. The approach combined radiused backer studs, hat channels, stud hangers, kickers and strong backs. It enabled quick, controlled adjustments and flexibility as teams coordinated their requirements within the ceiling system.

The guidelines supported the overall design approach. They allowed Radius Track to coordinate the backer framing using a logic tree. The team could either use fixed hanger spacing for the panel or select a fixed strongback size. All hangers were modeled and coordinated among the trades. Crews preinstalled the hangers in the field before MEP and fireproofing. This sequence locked in the ceiling support layout before installation.

As the ceiling transitioned to wall space, the interaction between the wall and ceiling assemblies proved complex. To address this, McClure color-coordinated the movement joints to represent the specific detailing required to accommodate building movement while eliminating visible joints in the ceiling.

This flexible design guidance reduced rework and improved responsiveness to day-to-day coordination challenges. It also ensured the curved ceilings could be executed with structural integrity and alignment with the architect’s vision.

Courtesy of McClure