This large tenant improvement project included structural engineering analysis and design for the complete remodel of the headquarters for one of the oldest companies in the Bay Area.

Customized Solution

• Large in scale, the tenant improvements for this project covered almost all 350,000 s.f. of the office building. Structural scope included support and anchorage for retail and display kiosks, floor strengthening, new light gage metal office partitions, and floor support for a condensed filing system, among other improvements.
• One of the biggest efforts included the addition of new stairs from the 5th to 6th floor, which required cutting a hole into the existing floor to build a stair within the office space. Flexibility was essential to the project’s success, as the team worked with various unforeseen conditions and a phased construction schedule due to continued tenant occupancy.

Originally designed for dot com tenants, this 260,000 s.f. two-building office complex on a Potrero Hill site was later remodeled to accommodate the California Culinary Academy.

Customized Solution

• Forell | Elsesser provided structural engineering services for both the design and repurposing of these two, 4-story multi-media office buildings which are connected by a long-span, steel pedestrian sky bridge. Two different cladding techniques create architectural variety and give the impression of four separate buildings.
• The state-of-the-art post-tensioned beam and slab gravity system designed to accommodate various future floor openings and mechanical equipment requirements proved necessary when the California Culinary Academy moved into the space. The repurposing required drilling 3,000 cores into existing floor slabs and the careful placement of a large freight elevator.
• With two levels of below-grade parking for 490 cars, the difficult, transitional Potrero Hill site required extensive foundation design and the drilling of piers and rock anchors to prevent building movement and sediment buildup due to subterranean water flow.