At the state level, the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) Awards bring together projects, recognised by their local organisations, to celebrate the “Best of the Best” and serve as models of excellence in structural engineering representing California’s leading structural engineers. In light of the current pandemic, the award ceremony was held virtually on 2 September.
Buro Happold was engaged by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the world's preeminent movie related organisation, as part of a team led by the architects Renzo Piano Building Workshop, in collaboration with Gensler and project manager Paratus Group, to build the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The design team conceived an adaptive reuse of the Saban Building (formerly the historic Streamline Moderne May Company department store, 1939) and a soaring new spherical addition housing the 1,000 seat David Geffen Theater as well as the glass domed Dolby Family Terrace. The Academy Museum is scheduled to open in April 2021.
The two buildings required very different structural solutions; the Saban Building’s original steel and concrete structure was strengthened to resist earthquake forces, and the orb shaped theatre addition was created with a base isolation system placed above ground as a feature of the architectural design, the first ever approach of its kind.
The triple-friction-pendulum base isolators allow the sphere to move up to 30 inches in any direction during an earthquake, adds Roorda.
Buro Happold also devised a time saving construction strategy using 690 precast concrete panels to create the smooth, spherical concrete dome. In addition, the engineers worked with the architects to design structural connections for new pedestrian bridges anchored on the Saban Building and designed to pivot, moving with the sphere in the event of an earthquake.
Buro Happold employed cutting edge BIM technologies and other advanced modeling tools so the design and construction team could work collaboratively on solving and optimising engineering solutions for greater sustainability and maximum adaptability. The firm devised flexible mechanical and electrical systems, for example, to meet the challenging mix of programme space, based on multiple stakeholders and client departments.
Among the challenges of the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures was the decision to build a 125 ft high concrete sphere, adds Buro Happold’s Roorda. Using traditional cast-in-place concrete poured against formwork proved too difficult and expensive and would not assure the smooth, natural finish the architect envisioned for the dome. Instead, the sphere’s outer skin was erected from 690 precisely curved precast concrete panels of about four feet wide and up to 13 ft tall. The panels with added rebar, weighing one to two tonnes each, are sprayed with Shotcrete to efficiently lock the frames against the panels, with the exterior surface finished to create a smooth shell.
Now visible on the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire in Los Angeles, the museum’s steel-and-glass dome for the rooftop terrace acts as a lid, with tension cables running along the inside of the dome’s steel ribs. The dome alone weighs about 350 tonnes and is open to the outside air.