As a shining symbol of civic pride in Los Angeles County, Pasadena City Hall stood as the stately centerpiece of Pasadena's Civic Center since 1927. To the casual observer, the rectangular edifice, designed by San Francisco Classicists John Bakewell, Jr., and Arthur Brown, Jr., appeared to be aging gracefully.
However, that placid exterior masked deep cracks within two of the hall's stair towers, extensive water damage, decaying art stone exterior features, and significant seismic defects.
Consequently, seismic strengthening, an M/E/P systems and ADA upgrade, restoration of internal and external areas, and landscaping were the main program elements that the Building Team, headed by the Clark Construction Group, Costa Mesa, Calif., was charged with handling.
Recent studies showed that a future earthquake could destroy portions of the building, so the decision was made to separate the historic structure from the ground through seismic isolation. The original basement floor slab was removed, a new foundation was excavated and installed, a new basement floor transfer system was put in place, and 240 friction-pendulum isolators were installed.
“This was an extremely complicated project,” said BD+C Reconstruction Awards judge K. Nam Shiu, P.E., S.E., MISE, VP, Walker Restoration Consultants, Chicago. “Installing a base isolation system on an existing building is difficult work.”
Interior walls were replaced, the hall's plaster ceilings were restored, and new finishes were applied. All the building's marble, light fixtures, quarry tile, wood doors, and woodwork were preserved, protected, or restored.
On the exterior, historical cast stone elements were refurbished, as well as exterior plaster and copper cladding on the dome and stair towers. The grounds were spruced up with new site paving, landscaping, planters, and decomposed granite walkways.
With such attention dedicated to preserving historic elements, the design and installation of new M/E/P systems had to be carefully woven into the architecture. Systems had to be integrated above existing plaster ceilings, within wainscots, and through existing structural beams in line with specific guidelines in extremely confined spaces. The Building Team had to do a significant amount of coring through concrete and steel to run utility lines; in some cases, soffits were created to conceal M/E/P components.
The Building Team benefited from expertise lent by the City Hall Restoration Oversight Committee, a team of 13 outside professionals appointed by the Pasadena City Council to monitor this important civic project. City of Pasadena officials often attended weekly meetings with subcontractors.
Not only did the design need to be tight, but the actual construction had to be extremely well coordinated, particularly in the basement, where multiple trades had to work together in limited space. Because the basement slab was a honeycomb pattern of holes and structural openings, guardrails and hole covers had to be constantly relocated and replaced during different phases of the project. The team had to exert extreme diligence to prevent any workplace incidents.
This effort paid off. Not only was the work successfully completed two months ahead of schedule, but during more than 541,000 man-hours under difficult work conditions, the project reported zero lost time incidents—an impressive feat when compared to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2005 national average rate of 2.6 lost time incidents per project.
Related Stories
Building Tech | Mar 14, 2023
Reaping the benefits of offsite construction, with ICC's Ryan Colker
Ryan Colker, VP of Innovation at the International Code Council, discusses how municipal regulations and inspections are keeping up with the expansion of off-site manufacturing for commercial construction. Colker speaks with BD+C's John Caulfield.
Student Housing | Mar 13, 2023
University of Oklahoma, Missouri S&T add storm-safe spaces in student housing buildings for tornado protection
More universities are incorporating reinforced rooms in student housing designs to provide an extra layer of protection for students. Storm shelters have been included in recent KWK Architects-designed university projects in the Great Plains where there is a high incidence of tornadoes. Projects include Headington and Dunham Residential Colleges at the University of Oklahoma and the University Commons residential complex at Missouri S&T.
AEC Innovators | Mar 3, 2023
Meet BD+C's 2023 AEC Innovators
More than ever, AEC firms and their suppliers are wedding innovation with corporate responsibility. How they are addressing climate change usually gets the headlines. But as the following articles in our AEC Innovators package chronicle, companies are attempting to make an impact as well on the integrity of their supply chains, the reduction of construction waste, and answering calls for more affordable housing and homeless shelters. As often as not, these companies are partnering with municipalities and nonprofit interest groups to help guide their production.
Modular Building | Mar 3, 2023
Pallet Shelter is fighting homelessness, one person and modular pod at a time
Everett, Wash.-based Pallet Inc. helped the City of Burlington, Vt., turn a municipal parking lot into an emergency shelter community, complete with 30 modular “sleeping cabins” for the homeless.
Multifamily Housing | Mar 1, 2023
Multifamily construction startup Cassette takes a different approach to modular building
Prefabricated modular design and construction have made notable inroads into such sectors as industrial, residential, hospitality and, more recently, office and healthcare. But Dafna Kaplan thinks that what’s held back the modular building industry from even greater market penetration has been suppliers’ insistence that they do everything: design, manufacture, logistics, land prep, assembly, even onsite construction. Kaplan is CEO and Founder of Cassette, a Los Angeles-based modular building startup.
Sustainability | Feb 8, 2023
A wind energy system—without the blades—can be placed on commercial building rooftops
Aeromine Technologies’ bladeless system captures and amplifies a building’s airflow like airfoils on a race car.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 3, 2023
HUD unveils report to help multifamily housing developers overcome barriers to offsite construction
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with the National Institute of Building Sciences and MOD X, has released the Offsite Construction for Housing: Research Roadmap, a strategic report that presents the key knowledge gaps and research needs to overcome the barriers and challenges to offsite construction.
Healthcare Facilities | Jan 31, 2023
How to solve humidity issues in hospitals and healthcare facilities
Humidity control is one of the top mechanical issues healthcare clients face. SSR's Lee Nordholm, PE, LEED AP, offers tips for handling humidity issues in hospitals and healthcare facilities.
AEC Tech | Jan 27, 2023
Key takeaways from Autodesk University 2022
Autodesk laid out its long-term vision to drive digital collaboration through cloud-based solutions and emphasized the importance of connecting people, processes and data.
Mass Timber | Jan 27, 2023
How to set up your next mass timber construction project for success
XL Construction co-founder Dave Beck shares important preconstruction steps for designing and building mass timber buildings.