Creativity in Design and Execution

A landmark of its time, the Stanley A. Milner Library has lived in the civic heart of downtown Edmonton since 1967. For the expansion and renovation of the monolithic concrete library, the design team was challenged to modernize its Brutalist-style for the 1.2 million visitors it receives every year. Transforming the original concrete façade into a floating, streamlined structure would be no small task. Fast + Epp responded by completely replacing the existing façade with a geometrically complex structure at the north face of the building and incorporating a new lateral system for the building.

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707 Fifth – Manulife Place Pedestrian Bridge is an essential link in Calgary’s elevated network of pedestrian pathways. The bridge improves connectivity within the downtown core, adding a new connection from 707 Fifth – Manulife Place to Calgary’s +15 covered walkway system, creating a unique architectural expression in downtown Calgary. It was a challenge that required innovative solutions: providing a seamless connection to adjacent buildings while managing subgrade conditions, installation sequences, and non-structural coordination. With a total length of 270 feet 10 inches, the bridge features an elegant structural system known as a suspended lenticular truss, spanning 96 feet 5 inches.

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The Spruce Goose Project consists of the seismic retrofit of an aircraft hangar (250 feet x 740 feet) with two additional side buildings and the erection of new high-end office space within the hangar. The hangar comprises two 125-foot-wide portal frame arch structures with a central spine running down the middle. Arup worked in collaboration with the architecture firm, ZGF, to rehabilitate and seismically upgrade the existing timber building to current code requirements and to create four new levels of office and film production spaces inside the hangars.

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Designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures consists of a major renovation to the 1930s May Company Building (renamed the Saban Building) plus a soaring spherical addition that includes the 1,000-seat Geffen Theater. The Saban building is connected to the new theater with three steel and glass bridges.

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The Mackinac Bridge or “Mighty Mac” is a 5-mile-long suspension bridge that connects Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The bridge crosses the Straits of Mackinac, the waterway connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. It opened in 1957 and is the third-longest suspension bridge in the world – the longest in the Western Hemisphere.

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The historic inner dome and the interior supporting walls of the West Virginia State Capitol Building were found to have structural deficiencies. Using 3-D finite element analysis modeling and laboratory testing to determine material properties for the unique coconut fiber reinforced plaster elements, repairs were designed to strengthen portions of the existing building and incorporate supplemental supports to preserve the integrity of this important structure. Additionally, it was necessary to support the dome in-place while the walls beneath the dome were removed entirely and rebuilt.

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The Dublin Link Pedestrian Bridge

The Dublin Link was designed to create an iconic destination for Dublin, Ohio, activate the Scioto River corridor, and literally tie together the Eastern and Western sides of the city. The formal aesthetic and structural methods were developed simultaneously to create a single coherent vision. The resulting bridge is the longest single-sided suspension S-curve bridge in the world. It is supported by an expressive central pylon that the bridge deck passes through, conceptualized as the gateway between the historic town center and the newly developed mixed-use district on the East bank. The form and arrangement of the tower and bridge cross-section were developed through theoretical stress-shaping and refined through digitally-driven optimization.

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Casa Adelante is a seismically resilient nine-story affordable housing project for low-income seniors, with 25% of the units reserved for formerly homeless seniors. The specially “tuned” reinforced concrete building uses self-centering walls on a rocking mat foundation. Lead extrusion dampers within the foundation control the seismic response. The building has been evaluated to have zero days of downtime for repair after a major earthquake, and the project received a Gold Rating from the US Resilience Council. …

Seamlessly Blending Three Structural Materials

ICE Block I in Sacramento, California, is the reincarnation of the historic Crystal ice manufacturing facility, which was destroyed by fire on the same site. The new structure is an elegant blend of architecture and structure. …