About the author ⁄ Mark Sarkisian, P.E., S.E., NAE, LEED

Mark Sarkisian is a Partner of Structural and Seismic Engineering at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, and a member of ACI. (mark.sarkisian@som.com)

An Example of Sustainability Using Timber

The Iconic and Symbolic County Office Building

Decarbonization must rapidly advance to avert further changes to our environment. As a signatory of SE 2050, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has committed to bringing meaningful carbon reductions to a wide spectrum of buildings. The use of mass timber in many buildings can be cost-effective when combined with the building’s architectural design and programmatic needs. The added benefits of carbon sequestration, reduced finishes, and biophilic aesthetics were all developed for the new County Office Building 3 (COB3) for the County of San Mateo in Northern California.

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May, 2023 By Mark Sarkisian, P.E., S.E., NAE, LEED, Eric Long, P.E., S.E., LEED® AP, M. ASCE, Benton Johnson, P.E., S.E., Peter Lee, P.E., S.E., David Shook, P.E. and Alex Zha In Articles, Feature

Structural Design of the Urban Sequoia Tower

The concept of Urban Sequoia (Figure 1) combines optimized structural design with low embodied carbon materials, efficient construction, and carbon-capturing technologies. These carbon-capturing approaches allow buildings to start their service life with an ultra-low embodied carbon and sequester additional carbon over time, becoming net carbon negative. The structural approach to Urban Sequoia incorporates nature-based, living materials that embody far less carbon than conventional structural solutions while absorbing additional carbon over time. When combined with non-structural systems such as exterior wall systems that incorporate biomass and algae and technologies including Direct Air Capture (DAC), tall buildings could absorb three to five times the amount of carbon emitted at the time of construction.

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Jun, 2022 By Mark Sarkisian, P.E., S.E., NAE, LEED, Eric Long, P.E., S.E., LEED® AP, M. ASCE, Alessandro Beghini, Ph.D., P.E., S.E., LEED and Karl Micallef, Ph.D., DIC, C.Eng, MICE In Structural Sustainability Comments 0

95 State at City Creek

The new 95 State office and mixed-use facility consists of a 25-story Class A tower with a 5-story podium ecclesiastical meeting house totaling 640,740 square feet. The building is located in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The project is being developed by City Creek Reserve Inc. with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, architect and structural engineer, and Okland Construction as the general contractor. It is scheduled for completion in late 2021. The integrated urban design of multiple project components includes a complete rehab of the interconnecting pavilion and tunnel under State Street, connects 95 State to Salt Lake’s City Creek Center, and provides connections to neighboring Harmons retail and parking with a new solar canopy. With a client and owner team interested in the long-term performance of the facility located in a region of high seismicity and close to an active segment of Utah’s Wasatch Fault zone, SOM’s structural engineering design team responded to the design challenges of the new 392-foot-tall tower constrained on a narrow corner site using state-of-the-art performance-based seismic design methodologies and standards. Figure 1 shows 95 State from the south nearing completion.

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Nov, 2021 By Mark Sarkisian, P.E., S.E., NAE, LEED, Peter Lee, P.E., S.E., Jiejing Zhou, P.E. and Jaskanwal Chhabra, Ph.D. In Feature Comments 0

Seismic Performance of Slender Core-Only Towers

500 Folsom is a new residential high-rise providing needed housing in the densifying urban fabric of the Transbay District of San Francisco. The site was originally part of the Embarcadero Freeway, connecting the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge, that was heavily damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The site has been rejuvenated by the San Francisco Transbay Redevelopment Plan and Essex Property Trust. …

Jun, 2020 By Mark Sarkisian, P.E., S.E., NAE, LEED, Eric Long, P.E., S.E., LEED® AP, M. ASCE and David Shook, P.E. In Feature Comments 0

San Diego Central Courthouse

Superior Court of California

The new San Diego Central Courthouse is a bold and iconic civic landmark that replaces the seismically vulnerable existing courthouse facility. The new Superior Court of California, San Diego Central Courthouse consolidates San Diego County’s criminal trial, family, probate, and civil courts into a 704,000-square-foot downtown facility integrated with the neighboring hall of justice and county jail facilities. The new courthouse, comprising a full city block, includes 71 courtrooms and consists of a 24-story 396-foot-tall tower and 4-story podium clad in glass and precast concrete with two below grade basement levels (Figure 1). …

Jun, 2019 By Mark Sarkisian, P.E., S.E., NAE, LEED, Peter Lee, P.E., S.E. and Rupa Garai, S.E. In Feature Comments 0

Creative Rigor: Retrofit of the Desmond

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP was an Outstanding Award winner for The Desmond Building project in the 2017 Annual Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards Program in the Category – Forensic/Renovation/Retrofit/Rehabilitation Structures under $20M. …

Jul, 2018 By Mark Sarkisian, P.E., S.E., NAE, LEED, Neville Mathias, S.E. and Rupa Garai, S.E. In Spotlight Comments 0

POLY International Plaza, Beijing

Evolution of an Icon

Overview

A chance to design an “iconic” building is not something one encounters every day. However, that is exactly what the designers at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM) in their San Francisco office got when they were challenged to come up with a design for the Poly International Plaza project in Beijing, China. …

Nov, 2017 By Mark Sarkisian, P.E., S.E., NAE, LEED, Neville Mathias, S.E. and Rupa Garai, S.E. In Feature Comments 0

A Unique Opportunity for a Conventional Tall Building Frame

The Sichuan Airlines Center (SAC) Tower occupies a prominent site in the city center of Chengdu and has become a glittering symbol of the city’s urban transformation. The distinctive 650-foot tall (200 meter) tower is a recognizable city landmark, occupying a pivotal location on the Chengdu skyline. The Tower form is a natural reconciliation of geometry, structure, and space made possible through a systematic approach to its construction. …

Jun, 2017 By Mark Sarkisian, P.E., S.E., NAE, LEED, Neville Mathias, S.E. and David Shook, P.E. In Feature Comments 0

Flat Plate Concrete Construction

350 Mission.

A New Milestone for High-Rise Buildings

By re-examining standards long taken for granted by developers, 350 Mission received LEED® Platinum certification and is reinventing a ubiquitous building type. The form, structure, and systems of this Class-A office tower are generated by rigorous goals of environmental performance, social engagement, and material efficiency.

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Jun, 2017 By Mark Sarkisian, P.E., S.E., NAE, LEED, Eric Long, P.E., S.E., LEED® AP, M. ASCE, David Shook, P.E. and Eric Peterson In Feature Comments 4

Facets to Frames

Form Inspires Structure in Beijing

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP was an Award Winner for its Poly International Plaza project in the 2016 NCSEA Annual Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards Program in the Category – New Buildings over $100M. …

Mar, 2017 By Mark Sarkisian, P.E., S.E., NAE, LEED, Neville Mathias, S.E., Rupa Garai, S.E. and Andrew Krebs, S.E. In Articles, Spotlight Comments 0

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