Forell Elsesser provided structural engineering services for the renovation and expansion of the historic Congregation Emanu-El building. The 65,000 sf project aimed to enhance the facility’s programming while preserving its historical significance. Plans included reopening the original entrance and introducing a new lobby that seamlessly connects to an open-air courtyard. Additionally, two new stories were added to accommodate educational and community spaces, children’s play areas, preschool classrooms, and supplementary office and service facilities.

The synagogue was very interested in keeping the one-hundred-year-old historic facades of the existing courtyard building facing Lake and Arguello. Our project included preservation of those historic facades, including the roof over the Lake Street steps that serves as the new main entry into the courtyard building. We inserted a backup concrete and steel framed structure behind the existing facades and Lake Street Roof that anchor them to the new steel framed structure to resist seismic forces in case of an earthquake. Those facades were shored in place while demolition of the building occurred, and then attached to the new structure once it was erected.