The collaborating firms of Roessler Design Group and Weidlinger Associates received an Excellence Award from the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) for their retrofit design of the Orange Coast College’s Watson Hall.
The four-story reinforced concrete building, built in the 1960s, had been abandoned for several years prior to this renovation. As with most concrete buildings of its era, the structure did not meet California’s modern day earthquake requirement.
The structural engineers incorporated steel-braced frames to enhance the seismic performance of this signature campus building.