The St. Anthony’s Gardens Retirement Facility is a comprehensive housing development for the elderly, and is owned by the Archdiocese of New Orleans.  It is comprised of four areas, each constructed of different structural materials, to take advantage of the economy of each area’s geometry.  

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The Memory Care wing is approximately 21,000 square feet, and is constructed of wood framing, with prefab wood roof trusses and wood shear walls for lateral resistance.  Shear walls are carried up to the roof line to effectively resist wind forces transmitted through the roof diaphragm.

The Assisted Living wing is 3 stories, with approximately 12,500 square feet per floor and is constructed of light gauge metal framing, with light gauge metal trusses framing the roof and metal strap braced walls for lateral restraint.

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The Independent living wing consists of two three-story wings, with approximately 59,400 square feet per wing.  This wing is constructed of wood framing, with prefab wood roof trusses and wood shear walls, similar to those within the Memory Care area, to resist lateral forces.

The connecting Commons Area is a single-story, approximately 35,000 square foot central connector.  The structural framing within the Commons Area consists of structural steel framing, with moment frames for lateral resistance, and a wood truss framed roof.  Drag trusses were incorporated into the roof design, in order to effectively transfer wind loads from the roof into the moment frames.

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The foundation for the development consists of concrete slab and grade beam construction on 40 foot, 25 ton timber piles.  The slab was designed as a one way slab, with interior beams aligned with load bearing framing in the wood and light gauge framed areas.