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Summary of Completed Projects

Map of Downtown Palo Alto Projects

Dry drilling was done to avoid water damage to the brick mortar joints. A vacuum system removes the small pieces of brick. At some locations, several top rows of bricks had to first be relaid in new mortar, in order to resist the drill rig torque.

The reinforcing steel has been placed in the vertical holes along the centerline of this two- wythe red brick wall. The single row of yellow veneer brick beyond was tied back to the red brick.

Along this side wall, the rebar protruding from the resin-filled holes extends up to tie the not-yet-built reinforced concrete parapet to the wall. The redwood roof trusses, embedded in the wall brick, are in excellent condition.

The new concrete parapet has dove-tail slots on the outside in order to provide lateral support for the new full-size brick veneer ties. A needed supplemental lateral support buttress, added along the Monterey Road frontage, can be seen with its curved top.

The completely rebuilt parapet, with a single line of brick veneer, set flush with the wall below. The new reinforced concrete parapet beam has strap hanger to provide back-up support for the roof trusses, should localized failure of the masonry wall below occur. The original wall chimneys were filled with rebar and concrete, but replicated in profile. The entire wall was later sealed to minimize moisture intrusion and provide a uniform appearance.

Perpendicular wall ties were attached to the second floor joists. In-plane floor shear was transferred through glulam blocks to the masonry wall. A special tie was developed at each vertical wall core reinforcing bar.

The original roof sheathing was removed to install proper edge blocking for the new plywood diaphragm, plus supplemental supports and bracing, where needed.

The second floor above the curved entry was originally supported on steel beams joined with a perforated splice plate.

A new horizontal steel bracing system was developed for the second floor overlook above the entry. This steel is connected to new concrete shear walls at both ends. The intricate clock mechanism was later mounted to this floor.

The main entry was extensively rebuilt. The curved parapet above the second floor and below the clock tower is supported by a reinforced concrete wall braced back to the tower.

The matching parapet veneer replacement brick are being laid in place, with ties locked into the dovetail slots provided. The original parapet partially fell off during the 1989 earthquake.

The finished product, with new colors and all the trim details restored. The building is leased by the city to a restaurant operator. This restored and seismically upgraded building received an Annual Design Award from the California Preservation Foundation on February 11, 1995, “in recognition of outstanding achievement in design of preservation projects”. The Project Architect was Architectural Resources Group, San Francisco.