Impossible, you say? The Barrow Street Building
in Anchorage, Alaska, is just such a building and
demonstrates what can be done with some wood
and nails.
It's not quite as simple as that, but close. The
grade-level story actually is an above-grade basement
with masonry walls, and the first-floor and
mezzanine levels use 2x8 studs. The floor joists are
all 2x10, though spacing varies at 12, 16 or 24 inches
o.c.
Designed and built by the architectural firm of
Lane Knorr Plunkett with engineering assistance
from SCHR-Barkshire, Inc., the building was
completed in October 1982 at a cost of $67 a
square foot.
The firm chose wood for the structure because
steel and masonry couldn't meet