California College of the Arts (formerly CCAC) acquired the Greyhound Bus regional repair facility just after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Conversion of a mid-20th century concrete industrial building into a 21st century art school mandated a sophisticated approach to seismic strengthening. We provided straightforward steel braces that both strengthen the structure and participate in the definition of the various interior spaces.

The original building was designed to sustain heavy machine shop equipment and storage loads via heavy interior columns and footings. The structural reserve in these elements allowed us to insert simple interior braces without occluding the strip windows on the exterior of the building.

The sections of the steel braces are rotated 90 degrees to fit snugly around the original under-reinforced concrete beams. We also threaded the flanges of the braces through the concrete floors, tying them together with minimal visual disruption.

Due to the reserve capacity of the interior foundation system, no new foundation work was necessary, a major cost in seismic retrofit work. A further savings was achieved by avoiding removal and displacement of contaminated soil, contained but present on the site because of previous industrial uses.