Does your apartment building meet today’s standards for seismic safety and interior layout? If built before the mid-1970s, it could benefit from an upgrade of both.

Many building owners in these circumstances are taking advantage of the financial benefits of renovating their building’s interior spaces along with their seismic retrofit project.

The Optimum Seismic team has performed many earthquake retrofit, renovation and adaptive reuse projects over the years. These projects include:

  • Conversion of an historic hotel in downtown San Luis Obispo into a mixed-use project of 48 apartments and retail.
  • A similar conversion at the century old Mayfair Hotel in downtown Pomona.
  • Conversion of several Victorian homes into student housing for the University of Southern California.

In most such projects, the need for a seismic retrofit opens the door to reinventing the living space inside the building shell: opening interior spaces; making the most use of natural lighting; enlarging bathroom, kitchen and closet spaces; and using sustainable and recycled materials, renewable energy, and energy- and water-efficient appliances to meet the demands of today’s growing environmentally conscious tenant population.

Reduce Costs and Disruption

Seismic retrofits of apartment buildings can be done with minimal disruption to tenants, but the opportunity exists during this period to incorporate other upgrades to minimize impacts from construction.

Doing both at the same time can save you money by eliminating redundancy and reducing the amount of time needed to manage the work.

Equipment and supplies, staffing and storage requirements can also be shared or minimized for optimum efficiency when projects are done simultaneously.

Reinvent the Living Space

Apartments built in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s tend to have an overall boxed-in functionality. Kitchens are typically cramped and set apart from the main living area. Hallways are narrow, bathrooms compacted, and natural light is limited.

Consider opening these areas to create more expansive spaces by removing partitions and replacing “dead space” with functionality. This may include creating multipurpose areas to serve blended or multi-generational households, while optimizing private spaces as well.

Bring the Outside Indoors

Consider the exterior of the building shell and how light and landscaping can be incorporated into the interior design.

Attractive terraces, balconies and large windows can bring natural light indoors and expand the interior livings space to the outdoors.

Incorporate Sustainability

Some of our most sustainable buildings are older structures that have been adapted and retrofitted to extend their usefulness and revenue generating ability long into the future.

This reduces the environmental impact of demolishing a building, disposing of the debris, and shipping in new materials to construct a new structure.

It also helps to retain much of the historical character of a community, which is another very important aspect of sustainability.

A renovation project can harness these benefits and do even more with them by incorporating sustainable materials into the renovation. Consider using iron, wood, recycled aluminum and plastic into the design of your new interior.

These elements can create interesting accents that define living areas and reflect the simplicity and linear look of today’s design standards.

Best of all, the investment made in your apartment building will be more secure and protected against the ravages that can be caused by serious earthquakes.

And those earthquake threats are real. There are more than 500 active earthquake faults in California, according to the state Earthquake Authority. Recognizing these facts, the momentum for seismic retrofits is growing.

Los Angeles area property owners know well about the dangers of the mighty San Andreas and more recently discovered Puente Hills faults. In addition, there are more than a hundred smaller active faults in the Greater Los Angeles region, such as the Northridge, Raymond, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Newport-Inglewood, San Jacinto and Elsinore faults. Many of these have triggered destructive earthquakes in the past.

In Southern California, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Culver City, Pasadena, Torrance, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood currently require seismic retrofits of structures proven to be at risk of failure or collapse in a major earthquake. In Northern California, San Francisco, Berkeley, Fremont, Oakland, Palo Alto, and Richmond require retrofits throughout their cities. Other cities are considering similar guidelines.

It’s best to seriously evaluate all of your options for upgrading and protecting your building. The Optimum Seismic team offers complimentary, professional engineering advice to help you better navigate through enhancing your building and improving its earthquake safety. After reviewing the facts, you are likely to find the best and most cost-effective option is to move forward now on a seismic retrofit of your building.

So, if you want to better understand the types of impactful changes that are right for your property, visit Optimumseismic.com or call (833)978-7664.

 

About Optimum Seismic, Inc.

The Optimum Seismic team has been making California cities safer since 1984 by providing full-service earthquake engineering, steel fabrication and construction services for multifamily residential, commercial and industrial buildings. With more than 3,500 earthquake retrofit and renovation projects completed, Optimum Seismic’s work includes soft-story multifamily apartments, tilt-up, non-ductile concrete, steel moment frame and unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. To arrange a complimentary assessment of your building’s earthquake resilience, contact Optimum Seismic at (833) 978-7664 or visit optimumseismic.com.