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UC Berkeley Units 1, 2, and 3 Residence Halls

Advanced analysis and a tight schedule resulted in a retrofit design that addressed critical deficiencies without displacing building occupants.

  • Seismic Resilience

    Tipping employed state-of-the-art seismic analyses­ to identify vulnerabilities of the existing buildings, then designed targeted retrofit measures to mitigate collapse and life-safety risk.

  • Integrated Value

    Tipping accommodated the aggressive design and construction schedule that resulted from the University’s urgent concerns about the safety of student residents. This meant undertaking the design concurrently with review, approval, and construction.

We harness our advanced analytics’ capabilities to predict structural behavior and gain key insights to develop optimized, data-driven design solutions—creating real value for clients and building owners.

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We’re hyper-focused on providing useful insights early in the design process to better inform key decisions, control cost, and minimize disruptive surprises. By internalizing project-level goals, we’re better able to help achieve them.

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As industry leaders, we collaborate and innovate to create low-embodied energy, sustainable design solutions that are efficient, cost-effective, and seek to reduce carbon output to minimize construction’s environmental impact.

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We combine innovative design and a collaborative and responsive workflow to deliver tailored, effective, and unexpected seismic design solutions that help protect our clients’ high value investments and facilitate post-earthquake operations.

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Instead of textbook solutions and conventional approaches, we ask deeper questions to unlock possibilities. Through ingenuity and a thoughtful application of engineering first-principles, we develop more responsive and efficient structural designs.

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Units 1, 2, and 3 comprise 12 mid-rise buildings at 3 sites. Each group of 4 buildings surrounds a large courtyard and a central building with student amenities. Tipping also designed retrofit measures for the Dining Commons (Central Building) at Unit 3 in 2016, using the same analytical methods employed for the residential towers.

An efficient retrofit

Tipping employed state-of-the-art seismic analyses­—vetted by peer review­ and the University’s Seismic Review Committee—to identify vulnerabilities of the existing buildings. Retrofit measures included exterior shotcrete walls that serve as facade features as well as an array of steel elements intended to provide a backup gravity system during an earthquake. 

Tipping and the larger team accommodated the aggressive design and construction schedule that resulted from the University’s urgent concerns about the safety of student residents. This meant undertaking the design concurrently with review, approval, and construction.

The retrofit changed the buildings’ rating from “Poor” to “Good,” improving seismic safety for the population of students who spend the most time in University-owned buildings.

  • Location

    Berkeley, CA

  • Square Footage

    516,000 sf

  • Cost

    $25 million

  • Completion Date

    2013

  • Owner

    UC Berkeley Capital Projects

  • Architect

    EHDD Architecture

  • Contractor

    Rudolph and Sletten

Seismic analysis identified an unconventional approach

Sophisticated modeling tools highlighted vulnerabilities, then innovative strengthening measures were implemented from the exterior of the structure. 

Seismic resilience

A primarily exterior solution allowed the units to remain occupied during the upgrades. This eliminated impacts to the interior of the units and prevented hundreds of students from being displaced during the project.

Retrofitting elements designed to strengthen the structures from the outside of the twelve buildings allowed the upgrades to be made while students continued to occupy the building.

Tipping Project Team