Rutherford + Chekene

Rutherford + Chekene is a structural and geotechnical engineering firm in California specializing in new design and retrofit of structures for clients in sectors that include healthcare, higher education, corporate, research and development, art and education, and technology.

Rutherford + Chekene began implementing 3-D modeling to produce building information models (BIM) in 2005. R+C has developed more than $3 billion in construction using BIM created with Revit, Tekla and other software.

Rutherford + Chekene has been retrofitting buildings of various types throughout the Bay Area for more than 50 years. These include soft story buildings, a very typical structure for residential properties in San Francisco. For testing purposes, Rutherford + Chekene designed a three-story soft story apartment building with tuck-under parking and its retrofit solution. The retrofitted full scale building model was placed on a special expansion of UC Berkeley's shake table at the Richmond Field Station and survived a series of large events with minimal damage. The project was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through a grant administered by the California Office of Emergency Services (OES). R+C has also developed seismic retrofit schemes for apartment buildings in San Jose under an initiative by the San Jose Department of Emergency Services and the Department of Housing, who were concerned that damage to these buildings after an earthquake could create an emergency housing crisis.

Notable projects

• Structural engineer of record for the new Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis
• Seismic consulting for bridging documents and structural and geotechnical peer review of the San Francisco International Airport Air Traffic Control Tower
• UCSF Smith Cardiovascular Research Building at Mission Bay
• UC Merced Science and Engineering Building 2, Merced
• New Exploratorium, San Francisco
• UC Berkeley Boalt Hall Law Library, Berkeley
• UC Davis Gallagher Hall and Conference Center for the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, Davis
• Designing for Wind Loads on Solar Arrays, California
• De Young Museum, San Francisco
• Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey
• Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing
• Renovation and expansion of the UC Santa Cruz McHenry Library, Santa Cruz
• Genentech Hall, QB3, and hospital at the UCSF Mission Bay campus
• Pixar Animation Studios, Emeryville
• California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program (CSMIP) Study
• Geotechnical engineer of record for the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park
• Seismic consulting after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, New Zealand

Awards

• Structural Engineering Association of Northern California, 2013 Excellence in Structural Engineering, Award of Excellence in Retrofit/Alternation - Exploratorium
• AIA California Council, Urban Design Award, 2011
• McGraw Hill Construction, Best of 2010
• 2010 Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, Structures Award for Community Impact
• SEAONC Excellence in Structural Engineering, Award of Excellence, New Construction, 2010
• California Preservation Foundation Award, 2009
• Society of College and University Planners, Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture for Restoration/Preservation, 2009

References

• King, John. "Davis: Design chosen for Shrem art museum", San Francisco Chronicle, May 2013.
• Young, Eric. "Rehab/renovation: The Exploratorium at Pier 15," San Francisco Business Times, March 2013.
• Rauber, Chris. "Finalist / best health: Mills-Peninsula Medical Center," San Francisco Business Times, March 2012.
• Gonchar, Joann. "One Project, but Many Seismic Solutions", Architectural Record.
• Talarico, Wendy. "Seismic Systems that Stand Up to Nature", Architectural Record, February 2000.