Greetings! 

The current economic downturn and ensuing slump in the real estate market have lead to a shift from new development projects towards Retrofit, Adaptive Reuse and Expansion (RARE) of existing buildings. Our firm has embraced the new trend and business opportunities that have come with it.

RARE projects require special skills from design and construction professionals. From a structural engineering perspective, they demand expertise in observing existing structural systems, reviewing construction documents and analyzing structures under original versus current codes to reach the best solutions. Even with our extensive experience, in engineering mostly new structures, we have been gaining valuable insight from working on RARE projects; some of which include:

1. Site visits can offer an opportunity to observe the use of space while a facility is in operation and how its occupancy may have evolved over time. Inspecting areas that are closed to the public is especially important in gaining insight into actual occupant loads versus code prescribed design live loads.

2. Structural redundancies should be built into the system to anticipate and accommodate future changes in occupancy and avoid expensive retrofitting. The change from office to storage or public assembly use, for instance, is a common example.

3. Future expansions should be considered during the design of new projects to avoid costly strengthening of existing elements, especially vertical members and foundations. To pay for it now or pay much more afterwards should be carefully examined. 

Those insights will help us design adaptable and sustainable structures

which will ultimately provide a greater value to building owners. The project featured below serves as an excellent example.

Best regards,

Mohammed Thomad, PE, SE

Principal