Three buildings and a utility plant
Nearly 3,000 tons of structural steel covered Buildings 5, 6 and 7 together with the Central Utility Plant.
LocationYellowstone Club, Big Sky, Montana
Client / FabricatorAllied Steel
Structural steel tonnageApproximately 3,000 tons
Construction period2022–2026
Project overview
A substantial steel package across multiple alpine buildings.
Big Springs Village Phase 2 is a 420,000-square-foot mixed-use alpine development located at the base of Yellowstone Club, a private ski, golf, and outdoor recreation community in Big Sky, Montana.
The project includes Buildings 5, 6, and 7 together with a Central Utility Plant. Its program incorporates 35 residential condominium units and an array of shared amenities and support spaces.
Working with Allied Steel, our team provided detailing for nearly 3,000 tons of structural steel.
The project represents the second phase of the Yellowstone Club village development. Construction began in late 2022 and was scheduled for completion in 2026.
The steel package extended across three residential buildings and the Central Utility Plant, requiring coordination between structures with different functions, framing arrangements, and architectural conditions.
Steel detailing across residential and utility structures.
The project combined high-end residential buildings with a dedicated Central Utility Plant and related support spaces.
Each part of the development introduced different structural and coordination requirements. The residential buildings emphasized complex roof forms, seismic framing, and architectural integration, while the utility plant required framing suited to its operational and equipment-support functions.
Developing the steel package across these different structures required consistent organization of framing, connections, and fabrication information.
Project team and technical details
- Development area
- 420,000 sq. ft.
- Steel scope
- Buildings 5, 6, 7 and Central Utility Plant
- Residential units
- 35
- Owner / Developer
- Yellowstone Development, LLC
- Structural Engineer
- DCI Engineers
- Architect
- Hart Howerton
- Market
- Residential / Mixed-Use / Hospitality
Detailing scope
Structural steel detailing scope.
Multi-slope roof framing
Detailed roof geometry included changing elevations, ridge and valley framing, roof transitions and numerous skewed member intersections.
Special Moment Frame connections
Beam-to-column moment connections, plates, welds and stiffeners were coordinated within the Seismic Force-Resisting System.
Buckling-Restrained Brace connections
BRB connections were coordinated with braces, gusset plates, beams, columns and surrounding construction.
Wood and stone fascia support
Structural and secondary steel were coordinated with fascia depths, attachment locations, architectural elevations and exterior finish transitions.
Technical complexity
Coordination and detailing challenges.
Skewed roof intersections
Multiple slopes and elevations produced non-orthogonal beam connections and transitions requiring accurate three-dimensional geometry.
Seismic and gravity framing interfaces
Special Moment Frames and BRB connections had to remain compatible with adjacent framing, clearances and architectural requirements.
Fascia around complex roof forms
Wood and stone finishes required coordinated support positions, attachment conditions and connection access across changing roof planes.
Residential and utility steel together
The residential buildings and utility plant introduced different framing and equipment-support requirements within one large steel package.
Our approach
Special Moment Frames within the seismic system.
The project included Special Moment Frame connections forming part of the Seismic Force-Resisting System.
These connections had to be detailed in accordance with the structural design while maintaining compatibility with the surrounding gravity framing and architectural requirements.
Seismic detailing included:
- Special Moment Frame connections
- Beam-to-column moment connections
- Connection geometry within the SFRS
- Coordination of welds, plates, and stiffeners
- Interfaces between seismic and gravity framing
- Project-specific framing conditions
Buckling-Restrained Brace frame connections.
The lateral system also incorporated Buckling-Restrained Brace frames requiring specialized BRB connections.
These connections required careful coordination between the braces, gusset plates, beams, columns, and adjacent construction. The geometry had to accommodate the designed brace behavior while maintaining the required clearances and load paths within the Seismic Force-Resisting System.
The BRB scope added another layer of connection complexity to buildings already defined by skewed roof framing and extensive architectural interfaces.
Structural steel coordinated with wood and stone fascia.
The buildings incorporate a substantial amount of architectural fascia finished in wood and stone.
Coordinating these systems required the structural steel to account for architectural depths, support locations, attachment conditions, and clearances around the exterior envelope.
The detailing process included coordination between:
- Structural roof framing
- Wood fascia assemblies
- Stone fascia and support conditions
- Architectural elevations
- Exterior finish transitions
- Secondary support steel
- Connection access and constructability
This coordination was especially important around the complex roofs, where structural geometry and architectural finishes interacted across multiple slopes and elevations.
Project result
Structural complexity shaped by architecture and seismic design.
Big Springs Village Phase 2 brought together several demanding aspects of steel detailing within one large development:
- Nearly 3,000 tons of structural steel
- Multiple buildings and structural uses
- Complex, multi-elevation roof framing
- Numerous skewed connections
- Special Moment Frames
- Buckling-Restrained Brace frames
- Extensive wood and stone fascia coordination
The project demonstrates the level of detailing required where alpine architecture, seismic design, and a large multi-building steel package converge.