Fair Oaks Voluntary Seismic Upgrade

Coffman provided the structural design and detailing of a voluntary seismic retrofit of this 16 apartment building complex in Silicon Valley. Each building contains three stories of wood framed apartments situated over concrete parking garages. Most of the buildings have 51 apartments each.

Coffman worked closely with the owner, who recently acquired the complex, to develop a suitable plan to seismically strengthen the buildings in order to provide insurance for the significant upgrades being done in the 45 year old apartments. We conducted scenario expected loss (SEL) and scenario ultimate loss (SUL) studies to determine the specific portions of the building that have the highest levels of seismic risk. A series of new reinforced concrete shear walls, collectors, and the related new foundations situated in the garages of the buildings was chosen as the scope of work for the buildings that will provide the most seismic risk reduction for the money spent. Coffman also provided value engineering of the project in order to streamline the design and to make the project more constructible.