The Old Buckingham Station apartment complex consisted of three and four
story wood frame multi-family structures distributed over a wooded site with rolling
hills. Buildings are grouped in clusters at different elevations. Vehicle access within the
complex is provided by paved roadways and parking areas adjacent to the buildings.
Two connection points provide access to the Midlothian Turnpike which passes on the
south side of the complex.
According to Chesterfield County records, preliminary pre-design meetings with
the developer and architect began in September 1986. While automatic sprinklers were not
required by the building code, modified residential automatic sprinkler protection for the
entire complex was discussed from the outset. These discussions related to the building
code “modifications” that would be allowed based on the added protection provided by the
sprinkler installation. (A description of the modifications granted is provided in the
Building Code Section of this report.) Construction began in June 1987 and a certificate of
occupancy was issued in January 1989. All of the buildings were protected by what local
officials describe as a ěmodifiedî NFPA 13D residential style automatic sprinkler systems.
Fire Building
The Lodge Building was the largest building in the complex and contained 58
apartment units with over 57,000 square feet of occupied floor area. The building varied from three to four stories in height. The building was “x” shaped with a four story center
core area and four, three-story wings. The core contained
the complex’s management offices and social function room on the lower two
floors and two apartments on each of the third and fourth floors. A single elevator in the
core area served all four floors by means of open corridors.
Two of the three-story wings had approximately 4,700 square feet of area on
each floor divided into five apartments. These larger wings formed the east front of the
building. The two rear wings were also three stories high but contained only four apartments
and about 3,500 square feet per floor. The floor-to-floor height was approximately
9.5 feet. A common, multiple level peaked roof with asphalt shingles covered the
core area and the four wings.
The exterior walls were load bearing wood stud construction covered with vinyl
siding over Thermo-ply sheathing, a thin specialty construction material which has the
visual appearance of pressed paper board covered with aluminum foil. These walls were
insulated with fiberglass batts in the studs spaces, with a sheet plastic vapor barrier covered
by gypsum board on the inside. The interior walls were also of wood stud construction
covered with gypsum board.
The floors were 2x4 parallel cord trusses 18 to 24-inches deep supporting a plywood
subfloor that was topped with a thin (about 1-inch) layer of lightweight concrete.
Gypsum board ceilings were attached directly to the bottom cords of the truss. The roof
was constructed of a chip board deck over peaked wood trusses made from 2x4 and 2x6
members. The truss span was approximately 40 feet with a peak height of 13.5 feet and
an 8/12 pitch. The roof contained a ridge vent and continuous soffit vents were provided
around the perimeter of the building.
The combustible attic space was divided by draft stops at intervals of every three
or four apartment units depending on the wing of the building. The draft stop construction
was indicated as a single layer of 1/2-inch thick gypsum board attached to one side
of the roof truss. The floor trusses were draft stopped at the separation walls between
apartments. This was reportedly done by continuing the gypsum board wall covering to
the floor deck above rather than stopping at the ceiling attached to the bottom truss cord.
Each apartment entrance door opened directly to the outside. The first floor
apartments were accessed via a covered concrete sidewalk. The upper floors had
wooden covered walkways leading in two directions to open wood frame stairs one located at the core and the other at the ends of the wings.
The walkways were of wood construction and contained small gaps between the deck
boards to permit water to drain through. With the exception of horizontal sidewall automatic
sprinkler heads that were located near the two core stairways, the covered walkways
were not protected by automatic sprinklers.
On the side of the apartment wings opposite the walkways, each unit had a covered
exterior balcony. On the first floor, the balconies were concrete on grade, while the
upper floor balconies were wood frame construction very similar to the walkways.
There was no automatic sprinkler protection for any of the balconies.
Next » Building Fire Protection
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