Materials Used:
This two-story school prototype is constructed using structural steel beams with HSS columns and braced frames. The walls are metal stud infill and light weight concrete over metal deck makes up the floor structure. Roof framing is either open web joists or I-joists. The foundation consists of grade beams with caissons.

Project Highlights:
This fast-track school prototype project was designed for the Fresno Unified School District in only seven weeks. It is expected to be constructed in at least four urban infill locations throughout Fresno. The project incorporated seismic joints at various locations to reduce the analysis complexities of the “boomerang” shaped structure. Design was completed such that the kindergarten wing can be placed at either end of the main structure, allowing for some flexibility in urban site selection. The two-story lateral analysis was conducted using a 3-D finite element model.

Materials Used:
Housing – Two-story wood framed standard construction with concrete slab-on-grade foundations.

Commons – Wood framed bearing wall structure with use of some steel members to transfer higher loads. Roof system is pre-fabricated metal plate trusses with various areas of the structure utilizing exposed heavy timber trusses. The Commons building has conventional concrete footings and wood framed lateral resisting elements.

Dining – Same materials as the Commons building with the additional inclusion of some structural steel ordinary moment resisting frames as lateral elements.

Project Highlights:
The UC Merced Garden Suites and Lakeview Dining Project is a fast-track design build in conjunction with Mauldin Dorfmeier Construction and The Taylor Group Architects. The project is currently in construction and scheduled for completion during the summer of 2005. This project is registered with U.S. Green Building Council and is pursuing a silver LEEDTM certification for incorporation of green building practices such as utilizing a high volume fly ash concrete mixture for the foundations.

Project Highlights:
Several structures make up this unique campus located in north Fresno with the Sierra Nevada mountains as the backdrop. The classroom wing is in the order of 470 feet long, which is approximately 1 1/2 football fields. Three rotation pivot points, within the 470 foot length, in plan provided structural design challenges. The entrance canopy at the administration building also generated several structural design and constructability challenges. The canopy overhang reaches out approximately 23'-0" from the building wall.  Structural steel built up members were used to support the overhang with pipe braces used for wind uplift considerations.  To stabilize this structure, approximately 16 tons of steel was needed.  Structural HSS columns and vertical braces were utilized in an area of approximately 12' x 18' to accomplish this design challenge.

The uniqueness of the campus has provided interest from other school districts. A proposed elementary school in Firebaugh is planned for 2005 using the Fugman design.

Materials Used:
The multi-purpose and classroom buildings were framed with structural steel and braced frames. The gymnasium consists of concrete tilt-up walls with steel roof trusses.

Project Highlights:

This project is unique in that our office was hired to assists the designing A/E firm with structural design for the more complicated campus structures. As such it required a high level of coordination of standard detailing to blend the structural drawings from the two offices into one seamless package. systems to maximize open space and accommodate the architectural design in an economical manner. The design presented a unique challenge in mating the rigid concrete structure of the service department with the flexible diaphragm showroom and office structure. Compatibility and proper load distribution for design of the lateral systems were determined using stiffness interaction analysis of the two multi-level systems.

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