News at Forell

Projects Honored in 2012 Real Estate Deals of the Year

SFJAZZ Center, Rendering Courtsey of Mark Cavagnero Associates, 2012

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:

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

City College of San Francisco Chinatown / North Beach Campus

Simin Naaseh, AIASF Public Board Member

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

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 Center Opens & Receives Great Press

SFJAZZ Center

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:

ENR 2012 Award for Best Government/Public Building

AOC Mammoth Lakes Courthouse, ENR 2012 Best Projects: Government/Public Building

AOC Mammoth Lakes Courthouse, ENR 2012 Best Projects: Government/Public Building

Forell | Elsesser’s AOC Mono County Courthouse has received Engineering News-Record’s (ENR) 2012 Best Projects Award for a Government/Public Building. This $14.95 million civic building was a seismic design achievement. In addition to seismic issues, the building had to withstand an annual average snowfall of 35-feet. This fast-track project was delivered on-schedule and within budget despite a record snowfall of 55-feet during the year of construction.

Congratulations to the team which included Sundt Construction, Mark Cavagnero Associates, Gayner Engineers, AECOM, and Triad/Holmes Associates.

Forell/Elsesser has a long list of Government and Justice projects.

California Sustainability Best Practice Awards

California Maritime Academy (CMA) Waterfront Dining Center

California Maritime Academy (CMA) Waterfront Dining Center

2012 Best Practice Award Winners were honored at the eleventh annual California Higher Education Sustainability Conference. The purpose of this conference is to highlight, reward, and promote excellence in energy efficiency and sustainability in higher education facilities.

Forell | Elsesser’s current California Maritime Academy (CMA) project was honored this year and our De Anza Community College project was honored in 2010 with the same award.

 

 

 

De Anza Mediated Learning Center

De Anza Mediated Learning Center

 

Fort Mason Center’s Design Competition Won

Forell/Elsesser Pier Model

Forell/Elsesser Pier Model

Congratulations to the West 8 team! Forell | Elsesser was Structural Consultant on their winning design competition team for the Fort Mason Center’s 13-acre waterfront campus! The West 8 team was one of 20 architects invited to the design competition.

West 8’s design illustrates seven strategies to tie the former Army port of embarkation into its prime waterfront location. To view West 8’s winning design, visit Fort Mason’s West 8 page. For general information on the competition, visit SF Gate or Fort Mason.org.

AISC IDEAS2 Award Won for UCSF Ray & Dagmar Dolby

AISC Ideas2 Merit Award Winner, UCSF Ray & Dagmar Dolby

AISC Ideas2 Merit Award Winner, UCSF Ray & Dagmar Dolby

Forell | Elsesser has received one of four nationwide American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) merit awards for the UCSF Parnassus Ray & Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine building. IDEAS2 was awarded because of its innovative and creative use of structural steel from an architectural, structural engineering, and sustainable design perspective. Forell | Elsesser was part of the design/build team of DPR Construction and SmithGroupJJR.

Ray & Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine is the first LEED Gold Certified project to receive an Innovation in Design (ID) Credit for high-performance seismic design. Forell/Elsesser was able to show that the base isolated design resulted in a 40% reduction of structural materials and 43% reduction of CO2 over a conventionally designed structure of equal seismic performance. In addition, the design-build process saved UCSF approximately $20 million and two years on their schedule.

Forell’s structural engineering solution for this long, narrow structure was base isolation. “Triple Pendulum” isolation bearings were selected because of their ability to limit the structure’s torsional response. Based on nonlinear response history analysis, the building is designed to move a maximum of 26″ laterally and 2″ vertically during a magnitude 7.8 (M7.8) earthquake.

UC Berkeley CEE Honors David Friedman as Distinguished Alumni

 

David Friedman, CEE Academy of Distinguished Alumni

David Friedman, CEE Academy of Distinguished Alumni

David Friedman was recently inducted into the UC Berkeley Civil and Environmental Engineering Department (CEE) Academy of Distinguished Alumni. David was recognized as one of 26 members of CEE’s inaugural class for his contribution to the practice and business of structural and earthquake design, for his service to the Berkeley campus, for his leadership on the seismic safety retrofit of the California Memorial Stadium, and for his dedication to CEE as a founding member and current chair of the CEE Advisory Council.

The awards ceremony took place at Forell/Elsesser’s renovated California Memorial Stadium for which David was Principal-in-Charge.

This year, David was also honored with the 2012 H.J. Brunnier Lifetime Achievement Award from the Structural Engineer Association of Northern California (SEAONC).

Greenbuild 2012 Conference & Expo San Francisco

San Francisco Friends School

San Francisco Friends School

The Greenbuild International Conference and Expo will be taking place Wednesday, November 14 through Friday, November 16 at the InterContinental San Francisco. Forell’s Allen Nudel and Lindsey Maclise will be in attendance.

Many of Forell | Elsesser’s projects will be featured in Greenbuild’s Full Day Tours on Saturday, November 17. These projects include:

  • San Francisco Friends School (FD11 – an adaptive reuse of the former Levi Strauss Factory building)
  • Portola Valley Town Center (FD12 – the First LEED Platinum Certified town hall complex in the nation)
  • Adobe’s San Francisco Office (FD06 – the Baker & Hamilton industrial building to office conversion is LEED Platinum-EB Certified)
  • Historic Ford Assembly Plant (FD09 – seismic evaluation and upgrade of the 525,000 sf former largest assembly plant on the west coast)
  • UC Berkeley Maximino Martinez Commons (FD13 by the former Anna Head name – student housing complex seeking LEED Silver Certification)
  • UC Berkeley Blum Center for Developing Economies (FD13 LEED Silver Certified renovation and seismic retrofit of 1914 building and new construction)
Portola Valley Town Center

Portola Valley Town Center