This new 64,000 s.f. essential facility is used by several city agencies and houses the 911 Call Center, Police and Fire Dispatch, an Emergency Communications Center, and the dispatch for Emergency Medical Services.  The 2-story base-isolated steel braced frame structure above is designed to remain fully elastic and undamaged. Customized Solution

• The seismic performance was the most important design element for this 911 Emergency Response Center which is the center for police, fire, and medical emergency calls.  This emergency center utilizes a low-cost concept with elastomeric isolators mounted on top of the lower story columns.  Because the lower story is a car parking area, no building services are required in this open space, and raising the isolation plane to the underside of the overhead floor is feasible.  This strategy eliminates the usual framed platform over the isolators and saves the cost of an entire floor.
• The use of cantilevered columns in the basement to support the isolators eliminates the need for any braces or walls inside the basement and maximizes the availability of parking.

• Architect: Heller & Manus Architects/Levy Design Partners, Finger & Moy (Interiors)
• Owner: City & County of San Francisco
• Steel braced frame above base isolation plane, cantilevered column system below
• The cantilevered columns have a unique flared shape at the top to minimize their impact for parking while also providing a widened surface under the isolators needed for installation jacking and fail-safe restraints.