Our first project was to define a new class of buildings called Sandbox Towers. This effort was completed in mid-January 2020.

This five-page PDF file explains what a Sandbox Tower is and how it's designed and built. Please open this file and read through it.

A Sandbox Tower is a building that uses wood columns to support a rectangular structure with balloon framing. Like shipping containers, Sandbox Towers don’t care what is put in them, so they can be Apartment Towers, Office Towers, Shopping Towers or multistory homes. All Sandbox Towers share these common features to make them easy to design, engineer, and construct:

• Sandbox Foundations are a class of support system designed to support Sandbox Towers. Each Sandbox Tower has specific support requirements, and each Sandbox Foundation has engineered support capabilities. This makes it simple to mix-and-match.
• Balloon Framing is a style of timber construction that uses long vertical studs or posts to support a multistory building. Each floor is then hung off of the posts.
• Sandbox Columns are a class of compound posts designed to support Sandbox Towers. Each Column is built by joining two or more rectangular posts in an L or T-shape with many bolts. This quickly creates sturdy corners (and for multi-bay Towers, it also creates sidewall Columns).
• Sandbox Anchors are a class of connectors used to tie Columns to the Foundation. Each Anchor has many prepunched holes: upper holes bolt onto a Column and lower holes accept rebar or bolts that are surrounded by concrete. The most common Anchors are L-Anchors, and they attach to corner Columns.
• Removable Connectors. Sandbox Towers use galvanized bolts and bridge washers, self-taping lag bolts, split-ring connectors, and large screws to lock everything together. These connectors allow the Towers to go up rapidly ... or be disassembled to move or repair the Tower.