The developer of 181 Fremont, a 70-story residential and office tower being built in San Francisco, claims this will be the most earthquake-resistant building on the West Coast when it is completed in the summer of 2017.
Jay Paul Company acquired this development from SKS Investments in 2013, and estimates its cost at $665 million. The Class A building will include 432,000 sf of office space, 67 luxury condos on its top 17 floors, and 3,000 sf of retail space.
The building’s architecture (by Heller Manus), residential interior design (by Orlando Diaz-Azcuy) and engineering (by Arup) revolve around a unique megabrace that, according to the developer, would virtually eliminate structural damage from a significant (i.e., 500-year) earthquake. Jay Paul also believes this design could set new standards for earthquake resilience for urban development.
The resilience-based design focuses on saving lives and minimizing structural damage, property loss, and protection of the building’s MEP systems. The building features a sawtooth curtainwall, passive solar energy, and a water-recycling system. It’s the only residential tower in San Francisco to be pre-certified LEED Platinum.
See: New San Francisco mixed-use tower billed as most earthquake-resistant building on the West Coast
