This fully renovated and remodeled office building was formerly an auto repair garage. It had a lightly reinforced structural concrete floor system over a basement parking garage, and unreinforced masonry (URM) bearing walls supporting a wood roof structure above. The structural work included reinforcement of the concrete elements with structural steel and reinforced shotcrete, raising the existing heavy timber truss roof system, replacing most of the masonry walls with new framing, and adding new lateral load-resisting elements to support the restored URM storefront and elsewhere throughout the building. A new mezzanine was constructed surrounding the existing main floor office, and two condominium units were built over the office at the west end of the building along adjacent Corbett Street. A continuous skylight runs most of the length of the roof ridge, and a high window wall was added at the east elevation to provide views of east Portland and Mount Hood. The architects used a total “green” approach to design and construction, re-using existing materials wherever possible.
Architect: Peck Smiley Ettlin Architects
Contractor: Silco Construction Company
With the ever evolving code requirements for seismic design, seismic upgrades of existing buildings has become a larger portion of our work. These projects provide unique challenges to the structural engineer. Strengthening the structure while not changing the visual character of the building and maintaining a reasonable budget are often the biggest challenges. Below is a partial list of our Seismic Upgrade projects.
Seismic Study/Upgrade Projects: