UCSF Clinical Sciences Building: Seismic Rehabilitation Case Study

The seismic renovation of the historic 1932 Clinical Sciences Building on the UCSF Parnassus Campus will be examined. When the renovation is complete, the seven story steel framed structure with board-formed concrete facade will serve as functionally critical office space for the Moffitt Hospital staff. Because of the linkage with the hospital UCSF mandated that higher than seismic performance be achieved, but at a cost similar to conventional construction. The retrofit concept selected uses cast-in-place post-tensioned concrete shear walls with external buckling restrained brace dampers. The scheme was selected on a "Best Value" basis after evaluating several schematic-level designs. The paper will emphasize: Development of the project-specific design criteria. Application of nonlinear response history analysis techniques. Performance-based detailing of articulation joints between walls & floors. Seismic interface considerations related to adjacent buildings.