Portfolio: Project Details
Cambria Apartments
Seismic Upgrade
Sunnyvale, CA
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Interactive Resources conducted a seismic risk analysis on the Cambria Apartments in Sunnyvale, California.
The problem at Cambria Apartments is the result of the open parking tucked under three of the apartment buildings creating what is known in the engineering community as a “soft story”.
At Cambria Apartments, a rather unique but effective bracing system was employed. Steel braced frames were used periodically in the transverse direction between parking stalls. This arrangement creates several small diaphragms spanning between the new transverse steel frames rather than one long overstressed diaphragm. This cuts the demand on the wood diaphragm down to a manageable level and virtually eliminates the potential for collapse in the transverse direction. The steel frames also solve the rotation problem when the diaphragm is cut down to a small ratio of width to depth. The small diaphragms react with each other to distribute the loads back to the rear wall without developing undesirable torsion on the building.
