Wallace F. Bennett Building Seismic Upgrade
2002 ACEC Utah Grand Conceptor Award Engineering Excellence
2002 ABC Utah Grand Conceptor Award Honorable Mentiond, Governmental and Institutional Project
The Bennett Federal Building stands prominently at the southeast corner of 100 South and State Street in downtown Salt Lake City. This eight-story office building has been a community landmark since its construction in the early 1960s. Reaveley Engineers designed a high-performance seismic upgrade necessary for the high earthquake risk along the Wasatch Front. The building was seismically retrofitted with 344 unbonded braces manufactured by Nippon Steel. This state-of-the-art Buckling-Restrained Braced Frame (BRB) system saved more than $2.5 million and two months of construction duration. The aging precast exterior cladding was replaced with an attractive, blast-resistant, and energy-efficient curtain wall system. The Bennett Building is among the first few projects of its kind in the United States; it is the first federally owned building to use buckling-restrained brace technology. The team’s work was recognized by GSA with the 2002 Leadership and Public Service Recognition award.