Ryan Biggs Clark Davis completed the structural design for the renovation of this two-story, cast-in-place concrete building built in 1966.
The goal of the project was to create space for the Department of Literature and Creative Writing and ultimately created three new classrooms, seminar rooms, offices, and collaboration spaces. The renovation included; the addition of an elevator shaft through the concrete structure. This required modifications and reinforcing of the existing waffle slab floor and roof structure and modifications to the foundation for a new elevator pit, including underpinning of existing foundations; design of infill structures; design of mechanical openings through the existing floor and roof structures; and repair and restoration of the concrete façade.
Extensive study was done of the existing concrete during design phase to determine the best approach for patching materials, crack injection methods, and coatings. In addition, cleaning mockups were performed on the interior and exterior. Specifically, the interior concrete frame had extensive graffiti painting which had to be completely removed.
