Folded Steel Plate Roof for a Suburban Branch Bank

The architectural design of the Union National Branch Bank building, Youngstown, Ohio, was keyed to the need for a structure with a striking appearance to serve as the focal point in a suburban shopping center. To achieve this appearance, architect P. Arthur DOrazio called for a circular building with a folded-plate roof and glass exterior walls. The author prepared preliminary structural studies for the project. These studies pointed to steel as the structural material that would fill the architectural requirements to the best advantage. This paper is not intended to be the last word on the design of a folded plate roof of this type. It is one engineers approach and treatment of this problem. There is never enough time to treat a new problem or situation as we would like. With more time, this structure could possibly have been refined and the cost reduced. There are, no doubt, other approaches that could have been made.