CAEE Seminar -- 181 Fremont Tower: A Case Study in Innovative Lateral Load-Resisting Approaches

The Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering department will be hosting a seminar featuring Brian McElhatten, Associate Principal at Arup and lead for the structural group in the Chicago office. The topic of the seminar will be 181 Fremont Tower: A Case Study in Innovative Lateral Load-Resisting Approaches.

Abstract

The 181 Fremont Tower is a 56-story, 800’ tall mixed-use building in San Francisco. The Arup structural design used innovative approaches and systems to resist both wind and seismic loading and to provide occupant comfort during high wind events. These approaches also led to significant cost savings in the building over a more conventional design that had previously been undertaken. This presentation will provide an overview of the project and then describe the structural systems which were utilized. The presentation will end with a series of current construction photos.

Speaker Bio

Brian McElhatten is an Associate Principal at Arup and leads the structural group in the Chicago office. Prior to joining Arup two years ago, he worked at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) for 15 years where he was an Associate Director. Brian has had the opportunity to work on and lead the structural design of numerous tall and supertall towers in the US and around the world. In addition, he has worked on medical buildings, government buildings, cultural centers, convention centers and university buildings.