Pioneer Courthouse Seismic Renovation, Portland, OR Seismic strengthening and complete renovation of the oldest standing federal courthouse west of the Mississippi. KPFF utilized a base-isolation system to reduce the seismic demand and preserve the historic architectural finishes.

Pioneer Courthouse Base-IsolatorInstallation required excavation beneath the entire structure and installation of isolators that decouple the building’s movement from the ground.

At KPFF, we strive to be more than consultants. Here, we are partners with our project teams, collaboratively pushing the boundaries and elevating the work we do in a constant pursuit of excellence. We are comprised of structural & civil engineers, who thrive on designing innovative solutions for projects of all scales. Our Portland office, established in 1974, has 100+ engineers that are collectively licensed in all 50 states.

Our award-winning portfolio spans six continents and over 250,000 projects.

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Colton, CA920,000-sf replacement hospital. The base-isolation system for this project consists of a combination of high damping rubber bearings and hydraulic viscous damping devices.

Pioneer CourthousePrincipal-in-Charge, Jerry Abdie, PE, SE, LEED AP, led the base-isolation project, determining overall layout, as well as assisting in initial studies for federal funding.

Tan Tzu Medical Center - Tai Chung, TaiwanKPFF teamed with Taiwan Engineering Consultants Group to design the world’s largest base-isolated building with 1.7 million sf and 1,300 beds.

USC Hospital, Los Angeles, CAThe first seismically isolated hospital in the world and the only fully operational hospital in L.A. after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA New 1,500,000 sf replacement hospital. The Diagnostic and Treatment building is base-isolated with a steel framed superstructure in order to provide a higher level of seismic performance.

BASE-ISOLATIONKPFF is internationally recognized as an industry leader in performance based seismic design utilizing base-isolation. We designed the first base-isolated hospital in the world, USC University Hospital, which survived the 1994 Northridge Earthquake and “suffered no damage despite the severe ground shaking” (USGS.gov). We engineered the largest base-isolated medical center, the Tan Tzu Medical Center in Taiwan. For the Pioneer Courthouse Renovation in Portland, Oregon, we designed a base-isolation system that reduced the seismic demand on the structure while preserving the historic character of the building.

Our team of experts are renowned leaders in seismic design. In addition to pioneering base-isolation design, they serve on task forces and committees such as Task Committee 12 on Seismic Isolation and Energy Dissipation for the 2016 edition of the ASCE 7 building code, the concrete building code committee ACI 318 with the American Concrete Institute, including subcommittee H on seismic design, and the

Earthquake Engineering Committees of the Structural Engineers Associations along the West Cost. Relevant projects include:

» Washington State Emergency Operations Center, Seattle, WA

» Saint John’s Health Center Replacement Project, Los Angeles, CA

» Conexant Mexicali Semiconductor Systems Building, Mexicali, Mexico

» Conexant Newport Beach Semiconductor Systems Building Retrofit, Los Angeles, CA

» SAFECO Data Center, Seattle, WA

» Immunex Helix Research Campus, Laboratories and Data Center, Buildings A,B, C, and J, Seatlle, WA

» King County Metro Communications and Control Center (CCC), Seattle, WA

Peer Reviewed Base-Isolation Projects

» VA Medical Center, Long Beach, CA

» Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, CA

» 4050 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA

» Genentech CCP2 Project, Vacaville, CA

Hayward City Hall, Hayward, CAKPFF engineered the project to withstand a maximum considered earthquake by incorporating a base-isolation system consisting of friction pendulum bearings and hydraulic viscous damping devices.