University Hall
Seismic Corrections
University of California
Berkeley, California

University Hall was designed by Welton Beckett & Associates, Architects, and constructed in 1957. The building consists of a large two-story section to the west and a seven story reinforced concrete tower with a basement. The seismic strengthening scheme for the tower involved locating braced steel frames on the exterior facade of the main tower. These braced frames are located in various bays of the existing concrete frames on all four sides of the building. Each bay of the north and south walls of the building have a complete braced frame, and the east and west walls each have an array of braced frames, arranged in a symmetrical “stepped” pattern. Supporting these frames throughout the first story are concrete “bents”, which increase the size of the existing first floor columns and second floor spandrels. The first story concrete “bents” preserve a link between the building and the campus tradition of concrete construction and visually anchor the building to the ground plane. For lateral support of the western two-story section, new concrete shear walls and steel horizontal truss roof diaphragms were utilized. This design alters the exterior appearance of the building, giving it a new character reflecting its improved seismic performance.