The 33,000 s.f. lab building houses experiment staging areas, chemical labs and storage, biology labs, mechanical assembly labs, offices, and conference rooms with views of the bay.
Customized Solution
- The structure was designed with construction cost and sustainability in mind. The 3-story structure is supported by a structural steel moment-resisting with connections that will yield and dissipate seismic energy during a major earthquake to protect the occupants. To save cost on the steel frame during a time of volatile steel costs, Forell | Elsesser designed the steel frame to be embedded into the foundation to create a composite connection that reduced the steel tonnage and cost of the steel for the project.
- The building was designed using Revit Structure (BIM) in collaboration with Overaa Construction as a design-build project. Forell | Elsesser’s use of BIM technology allowed for the scheduling of steel and concrete quantities for tracking of construction costs and LEED design goals. The efficient building systems and collaborative team effort contributed to the achievement of a LEED Gold Rating.
- As a result of our project innovations, we are collaborating with UC Davis to study the special composite connections used on the User Support Building, which is funded by the Charles Pankow Foundation and the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC).
Highlights
- General Contractor: Overaa Construction, Architect: WRNS Studio
- Owner: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) / Department of Energy
- Innovative column base connections to reduce steel tonnage
- LEED Gold Rating
Team
Geoff Bomba
Director of Engineering Operations
Paul Rodler
Senior Principal