Marin Executive Center

San Rafael, California

This 5 story steel moment frame building was voluntarily seismically upgraded to reduce its damageability in a major earthquake. The selected scheme allowed the vast majority of the work to be completed from the exterior of the building and the building to remain essentially fully occupied during the duration of construction. The retrofit solution largely consisted of the construction of exterior buttresses which served the dual function of providing alternate lateral support for a weak soft story at the ground level and exterior walls for a new mechanical enclosure.

Construction of the upgrade was substantially complete within 8 months of Hohbach-Lewin’s initial involvement. Construction was by Rossi Builders, the architectural design was provided by Legacy Partners; peer review and PML evaluation services were by Telesis Engineers.