Simin Naaseh, CEO/President, Presenting at AIASF/DBIA on 6/2

F | E engineers attended multiple events in the San Francisco area. I hope you were able to join us! Events include:

6/2/2015, 6:00-8:00PM AIASF/DBIA “Design/Build… In the Eye of the Beholder”
Our CEO, Simin Naaseh, moderated this event. Speakers included Michael Bade (UCSF), LeRoy Ginn (ACCO Engineered Systems), Rich Henry (McCarthy), Teri Jones (Sundt), Geoff Neumayr (SFO), Marianne O’Brien (SmithGroupJJR), and Mark Rothman (Fentress).
Please visit AIASF‘s and DBIA‘s websites for more information on these organizations.

5/19/2015 AEBL “Women in Leadership in the AEC Industry”
F/E’s David Friedman was a speaker sharing his knowledge about how to foster an AEC work environment which is inclusive and supportive of women. Associate, Lindsey Maclise, moderated the event.
Please visit AEBL‘s website for more information on this organization.

5/7/2015  AIASF/DBIA “Design/Build Basics”
Our COO, Paul Rodler, spoke about his experience with design/build and with working on D/B projects with Overaa Construction and WRNS Studio. Speakers included Andrée Blais (Nossaman), Carl Overaa (Overaa Construction), and John Ruffo (WRNS).
Please visit AIASF‘s and DBIA‘s websites for more information on these organizations.

Posted June 2015

Napa Earthquake 8/24/2014 (click to expand)

The shaking demands experienced during the Napa M6.0 earthquake are approximately 60-90% of the demands used for the design of new buildings. The chart to the right includes the shaking demands expected for earthquakes that occur on average every 475 and 2475 years. New buildings are generally designed for an earthquake corresponding to the 475-year level.

If you have questions about the shaking demands corresponding to your building’s location or the shaking intensity of your area, please contact Russell Berkowitz.

Posted August 2014

California Memorial Stadium

Forell | Elsesser is honored to have one of our structural solutions for the UC Berkeley California Memorial Stadium project featured at the National Building Museum’s “Designing for Disaster” exhibit in Washington D.C.

For a case study on our innovative seismic solutions, please visit the Memorial Stadium Case Study page. For general information on the project, visit our Memorial Stadium Project page. For awards won on this project, visit our What’s New page.

Foothill PSEC, ENR California’s Best Higher Education/Research Project Award Recipient

Forell’s Foothill Community College Physical Sciences & Engineering Center project is the recipient of ENR California’s 2013 Best Higher Education/Research Project, Award of Merit. PSEC was featured in the December 2nd issue of ENR California. This project also received the Community College Facility Coalition (CCFC) Award of Merit while the project was in design.

Congratulations to our design and construction team including Ratcliff Architects, Gayner Engineers, Gilbane, and Hathaway Dinwiddie. The Forell/Elsesser team included Paul Rodler, Russell Berkowitz, and Susan LaFore. We hope Foothill College will enjoy this facility for many years to come.

UC Berkeley BAM/PFA Construction in Progress

Construction begins on the new Berkeley Art Museum / Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA). Structural shoring and excavation is nearly complete and the primary structural work begins. This $100 million project was designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and EHDD Architecture is a combination of new structures and an adaptive reuse seismic upgrade of an art deco style former printing plant. The Forell/Elsesser team includes Mason Walters, Geoff Bomba, and Masume Dana.

UC Berkeley California Memorial Stadium

Forell | Elsesser’s seismic upgrade to the UC Berkeley California Memorial Stadium has received numerous awards this spring and fall including:

• The Honor Award for SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture for Restoration/Preservation. The Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) holds this award program yearly and showcases eight categories of Excellence.
• The AISC 2013 IDEAS² $15-$75 Million Merit Award for Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel for the new construction of the Press Box. An article about the project was featured in the May issue of Modern Steel Construction magazine.
• The Structural Engineers Association of Northern California 2013 Excellence in Structural Engineering Award for the Landmark Category. SEAONC recognizes outstanding achievement and excellence in structural engineering practice and project work in eight categories. Awarded projects and their recipients serve as models of excellence in structural engineering representing California Structural Engineers.
• The Structural Engineers Association of California 2013 Excellence in Structural Engineering Award. SEAOC recognizes outstanding achievement in creative design, technical innovation, best practices, and demonstrated contributions to the public and/or profession.
• The National Council of Structural Engineers Association 2013 Excellence in Structural Engineering Award. NCSEA honors structural engineering ingenuity throughout the world. Projects are judged on innovative design, engineering achievement and creativity.
• The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2013 Historical Renovation Project of the Year.
• The Berkeley Design Advocates Biennial Award for Design Excellence.
• The ENR California Best Sports/Entertainment Project.

For a case study on our innovative seismic solutions, please visit the Memorial Stadium Case Study page. For general information on the project, visit our Memorial Stadium Project page. HNTB and STUDIOS reprized their same roles for the adjacent Simpson Student-Athlete High Performance Center.

The design team for this project included HNTB as Architect of Record and STUDIOS as Associate Architect. Webcor Builders was the General Contractor.

Kaiser Permanente Data Center

Two of Forell | Elsesser’s projects have achieved “firsts” for LEED Platinum: Kaiser Permanente’s Data Center and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) Building 74.

Kaiser Permanente’s project marks the world’s first data center to achieve LEED Platinum for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (EBOM). This 150,000 s.f. “essential facility” included a 60,000 s.f. addition of a new central utility plant (CUP) and build-out of 40,000 s.f. This uninterrupted project, which was fully operational the entire duration, was delivered via Construction Manager at Risk (CM-at-Risk). The highly collaborative team included DPR Construction and Hawley Peterson Snyder. Check out DPR’s fantastic article on this project from their Spring/Summer 2013 article.

Building 74, Life Science Division Seismic Retrofit marks LBNL’s first LEED Platinum building! RMW Architecture + Interiors was the architect for this project. We also completed LBNL’s Building 15 which received LEED Gold. LBNL’s Berkeley Hills campus is owned by the University of California and the buildings are owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

LBNL Building 74

UC Berkeley Maximo Martinez Commons

Forell | Elsesser’s residential project, Maximino Martinez Commons, was just awarded “2013 Best Practice – Overall Sustainable Design” from the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference.

The Higher Education Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Best Practice Awards competition is meant to: highlight California campus achievements made through innovative and effective energy efficiency projects and sustainability operations, showcase projects as models, and provide campus staff with Best Practice projects that could be transferable to their campus.

Read more about UC Berkeley’s Maximino Martinez Commons, which is pursuing LEED Silver certification.

UC Berkeley, Berkeley Museum of Art & Pacific Film Archive

Forell | Elsesser provides in-house Revit education, in the form of RevitAddict tutorials, about once a month to our staff. We post these tutorials on YouTube and have +2,380 followers with more than 444,290 views. Check out our tutorials on the YouTube RevitAddict page.

• RevitAddict Wall Tutorials
• RevitAddict Columns & Braces Tutorials
• RevitAddict Foundations
• RevitAddict Floors
• RevitAddict Families & Complex Geometry
• RevitAddict Shared Coordinates
• Revit Addict Steel Beams & Beam Systems
• RevitAddict Concrete Beams & Beam Systems
• RevitAddict Family Basics
• RevitAddict Quick Tips & Tricks

These tutorials are hosted by Shaun Peppers, our BIM/CAD Manager.