Contemporary Jewish Museum wins national award for structural steel design

The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco has earned national recognition in the 2010 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel awards program (IDEAS2),and members of the project team were presented with awards from the American Institute of Steel Construction during a public ceremony at the museum in August. Conducted annually by AISC, the IDEAS2 awards recognize outstanding achievements in engineering and architecture on structural steel projects around the country. Project team members include owner Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco; architect Studio Daniel Libeskind, New York; architect of record WRNS Studio, San Francisco; structural engineer OLMM Consulting Engineers, Oakland, Calif.; steel erector and IMPACT Member, Olson Steel, San Leandro, Calif.; general contractor Plant Construction Co., San Francisco; and consultant and AISC member, ARUP, San Francisco. The Contemporary Jewish Museum is a recipient of a National Award in the category of projects $15 Million to $75 Million, making it one of only seven projects around the country to receive the national honor. The recently completed Contemporary Jewish Museum is one of the last pieces in the revitalization and transformation of the once decaying Yerba Buena district in downtown San Francisco. The bold and striking new 63,000-square-foot (5,853-m2), $47.5 million museum integrates modern materials and complex forms with the old Jesse Street Power Station, a national historic landmark designed by Willis Polk in 1907 during the “City Beautiful” movement. The historic features of the landmark substation, most notably its elaborate brick and terra-cotta façade, steel trusses, crane and catwalk, were integrated into the building’s structure. “Despite contrasting styles, the new and old building work together beautifully,” commented Jack Petersen, P.E., principal, Martin/Martin Inc., Lakewood, Colo., and a judge in the competition. “The geometry of the addition could only have been addressed with structural steel.” Given the complicated geometry, structural steel was the most appropriate and cost-effective framing system for the building. The building is located in an area of high seismic activity. Resistance to earthquake loads is provided by steel braced frames. Although essentially a two-level structure, the highest point in this angular building rises almost 70 feet (21 m) above the ground level. Structural engineers built a 3-D computer model of the building in order to perform detailed response spectrum dynamic analyses. Because the braced frames also carry gravity loads, seismic design is required to ensure nearly elastic behavior for the maximum credible earthquake. The general contractor and the steel detailing, fabrication and construction team were brought on board early in the design phase, allowing for creative and practical solutions and close collaboration. That led to a project that was successfully completed within time and budget with only minor changes. Roger E. Ferch, P.E., president of AISC, said, “The entire Contemporary Jewish Museum project team has shown how structural steel can be used to create structures that combine beauty and practicality. The result is a museum that serves the public extremely well, while providing an example of what can be achieved when designing and constructing projects with steel.”