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.

Lindsey Maclise, SEAONC Edwin G. Zacher Award Recipient

Forell | Elsesser is proud to congratulate Lindsey Maclise, recipient of the Edwin G. Zacher Award at SEAONC’s 2013 Annual Business Meeting. The “Edwin G. Zacher Award for Outstanding Recent Service and Contribution to the Association” is presented annually in recognition for outstanding service and contribution to the Structural Engineering profession. Lindsey was presented the award by long-time mentor and SEAONC President, Grace Kang.

Lindsey’s industry association contributions include SEAONC Co-Chair of the Sustainable Design Committee (since 2008), past SEAONC Vice Chair of the Sustainability Committee, SEAOC State Committee member (since 2009), ASCE SEI Sustainable Design Committee (since 2009), ASCE SEI Carbon Working Group Sub-Committee (since 2011), SEI Disaster Resilience Sub-Committee (2011), and EERI Housner Fellow (2012).

Mei Kuen Liu, Instructor at the Academy of Art University

Forell Senior Engineer, Mei Kuen Liu, is concluding her first class at the Academy of Art University (AAU) with co-Instructor Architect, Karen YunJin Seong. The ARH 420 Structures: Systems Investigation 16 week Spring Semester 2013 course was specifically designed to expose architects to structural engineering and foster an intuition for meaningful discussions with structural engineers.

The course was designed to be very hands-on. Every week, the 10 students each created their own structural system model to load and test until it failed. Mei advocates this practical learning environment: “Students develop structural understanding and learn a lot when things break. Seeing the students’ progression on a weekly basis has been very rewarding.”

One of her architecture students said he learned more in 5 weeks about structures (by breaking things) than in any of his other engineering-related classes. Mei states, “I enjoy stimulating architecture, which is why I decided to teach future architects about structural engineering. I want to see their trends and help them develop structural intuition. I believe this will foster appreciation and communication between architects and engineers so they understand why we do what we do.”

Mei will be teaching ARH 420 at AAU again in Fall 2013.

UC Berkeley, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive

Forell | Elsesser Project Manager, Geoff Bomba, and the design team were interviewed by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Civil Engineering Magazine about UC Berkeley’s 50,000 sf adaptive reuse seismic upgrade and 30,000 sf new addition. This $100 million project was designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and EHDD Architecture. This project is aiming for LEED Gold certification.

For Forell’s project page, visit UC Berkeley BAM/PFA.
For current project information, please visit DSR’s BAM/PFA.

Taube-Koret Campus for Jewish Life

Forell | Elsesser’s Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life Moldaw Residences project was listed in RCLCO’s March 2013 report.

RCLCO’s “Best Practices Report” on Innovative Intergenerational Senior Housing Projects was triggered by the fact that individuals aged 70 and over will comprise 10% of the U.S. population by 2017. Intergenerational infill campus housing projects is a notable trend that is on the rise.

For more information on Forell’s senior housing experience, please visit our Multi-Family Residential page.

SFJAZZ Center, Rendering Courtsey of Mark Cavagnero Associates, 2012

On Wednesday, March 20th at the Westin St. Francis, Forell | Elsesser projects were honored as part of the San Francisco Business Times’ Real Estate Deals of the Year ceremony.

We are honored to have been a part of the teams for:

• UC Berkeley California Memorial Stadium
• City College of San Francsico Chinatown/North Beach Campus
• SFJAZZ Center
• BioMarin Tenant Improvement

Congratulations to the developers and brokers involved on these great projects!
For a full list of finalists, visit the San Francisco Business Times. Here’s a list and slideshow of the winners.

City College of San Francisco Chinatown / North Beach Campus

Simin Naaseh, CEO/President of Forell/Elsesser and AIASF Public Board Member

Simin Naaseh, CEO/President of Forell | Elsesser Engineers, has been elected as a Public Board Member for the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter (AIASF).  Simin has been actively involved with the AIA for many years having presented at several AIA National Conventions, as well as AIASF Health Facilities Committee.  As a Public Board Member, she brings a passion for great architecture, seismic safety and lasting sustainable designs.

SFJAZZ CenterSFJAZZ Program Ad

The SFJAZZ Center had its Grand Opening on January 21, 2013. The Center has received national coverage by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Dwell Magazine, and About.com.

The $64 million performance space is the nation’s first stand-alone building designed for jazz. Its opening marked SFJAZZ’s 30th anniversary. In addition to our structural design, we also created an ad for the first SFJAZZ program! Look for it at your next event.

Congratulations to the team which included Mark Cavagnero Associates; Hathaway Dinwiddie; KPM Consulting; WSP Flack + Kurtz; KCA Engineers; Simpson Gumpertz & Heger; TEECOM Design Group; AECOM; Auerbach, Pollock & Friedlander; and SIA-Acoustics.

Coverage:

• Mercury News: $64 Million SFJAZZ Center Opens
• JAZZinSF: Timelapse of January 23 Red Carpet Reception, SFJAZZ Center Opening Night
  

  Forell/Elsesser SFJAZZ Program Ad

• The New York Times: SFJAZZ Center Opens in California
• About.com: San Francisco Makes Jazz History
• The Wall Street Journal: The Building Sounds the Right Note
• San Francisco Chronicle: SFJAZZ Concert Hall – Upbeat Opening
• City Sound Inertia: Live Review: The SFJAZZ Center Opens with Style, Intimacy, and Stars in San Francisco
• Los Angeles Times: SFJAZZ Center Makes a Splash on Opening Night
• Dwell Magazine: A New Cultural Hub for San Francisco
• BeyondChron: “I Heard That:” SFJAZZ Center- The Talk of the Town!
• Mercury News: Review: Bill Cosby and a Constellation of Jazz Greats Perform at the New SFJAZZ Center
• KQED: Listen to Replay of SFJAZZ Center Opening Night Concert
• San Francisco Bay Guardian: Sacred Space
• AV Network: SIA Acoustics Puts SFJAZZ in a New Home
• NPR Music: The New SFJAZZ Center, As Seen by its Musicians
• San Francisco Magazine: An Architect with Jazz Hands
• Architectural Record: First Look: SFJAZZ Center
• San Francisco Business Times: Hathaway Dinwiddie Talks About SFJAZZ Center Construction
• San Francisco Business Times: SFJAZZ Center Unveiled in San Francisco
• Examiner: Birth of the Cool: SFJAZZ New Center
• San Francisco Chronicle: SFJAZZ Center – New Cavagnero Landmark
• NPR: SFJAZZ Center Opening Night: Live in Concert
• San Francisco Chronicle: 3 New Bay Area Halls Let Music Ring Out