Structural Engineering Company Overview and Experience January 2024
Table of Contents 03 Firm Overview 04 Structural Engineering Services 05 Our Work
Engineered for Impact
We are an engineering and technical services firm focused on advancing the human experience through the built environment. We help clients achieve critical goals, advance team members through growth and opportunity, and operate at the center of important global issues, including sustainability and decarbonization.
Applying technical mastery and market vision
We have the objectivity to question assumptions, the versatility to embrace every problem’s unique nature, and the experience to challenge the status quo. We approach every project with a comprehensive view, focused on achieving high quality, lasting relationships, and a sustainable future.
Helping clients adapt to a changing world
We provide a full range of engineering and technical consulting services. From quick-turn projects to the most complex systems, our team is dedicated to providing quality solutions that deliver long-term value.
SERVICES
Embracing the unique nature of each problem and creating opportunity and impact through solving it.
\ Acoustics
\ Architecture & interiors
\ Asset management
\ Building envelope / Building science
\ Civil
\ Commissioning
\ Digital & automation
\ Energy & resiliency
\ Geothermal & renewables
\ Litigation support
\ MEP/FP
\ Structural
\ Resource efficiency management
\ Sustainability consulting
\ Technology
80+
Offices throughout North America
450+
Registered professionals
2,750+
Passionate team members
RECOGNITION
Our consistent recognition among top-performing organizations in our industry reflects our commitment to excellence and solid year-over-year performance.
Engineering News Record 2023
#54 on the Top 500 Design Firms List
MEP Giants 2023
#11 top 100 MEP firms in North America
Inc. 5000 2023
11x honoree
BD+C Giants 400 2023
#8 on the Top 35 Engineering/ Architecture Firms list
Zweig Group Hot Firms 2023
#3 fastest-growing AEC firms in North America
FIRM OVERVIEW Salas O’Brien 3
OUR MARKETS
Whether you’re renovating a retail space, planning a mixed-use development, building a laboratory, designing a new state-of-the-art hospital, or renovating a school, our experts have experience across multiple markets:
\ Arts and entertainment
\ Corporate and commercial
\ Civic
\ Data centers and telecom
\ Federal government
\ Healthcare
\ Higher education
\ K-12 education
\ Mixed-use
\ Multi-family
\ Retail
\ Science and technology
WHAT WE OFFER
From initial consultation to full structural specification and construction facilitation, we offer a complete array of structural design services, including the development of advanced and often groundbreaking solutions when conventional approaches can’t deliver quality results.
Structural Engineering Services
Creative, integrated structural engineering solutions to achieve your project goals
Our structural engineering team delivers innovative, cost-effective facility planning and designs customized to your project. We are inquisitive problem-solvers with deep technical expertise who provide industry-leading structural engineering for projects of all sizes.
Our reputation for excellence is earned through completing projects on schedule and within budget. This work ethic is reflected in long-standing relationships with our clients.
We produce thorough, well-coordinated construction documents and provide excellent service throughout the life of your project. We develop customized structural engineering systems to meet planning and design requirements for new facilities, renovations, and expansions, providing the following in-house services:
\ Academic peer review (DSA)
\ BIM/VDC
\ Building envelope and building science services
\ Cold-formed steel design
\ Feasibility studies
\ Forensic investigations and litigation support
\ Historic renovations
\ Innovative design including base isolation and passive dampers
\ Master planning
\ Non-building structures
\ Seismic and structural criteria development
\ Seismic evaluation, restoration
\ Structural repairs
\ Structural surveys, investigative studies, due diligence
\ Structural systems development
\ Value engineering
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING SERVICES Salas O’Brien 4
Transforming a 1950s-era bank into a vibrant commercial hub
Headington Companies 1217 Main Street Development DALLAS, TX, USA
The 1217 Main Street project—considered a work of art to owners— revitalizes a mid-century bank building in the heart of Dallas. The striking mosaic-inspired facade transforms the structure into a work of art that reflects downtown Dallas’s unique cityscape and character.
Salas O’Brien provided structural engineering design and evaluation services for the existing structure. The project includes renovations and additions to an existing historic five-story building. The new program for the building consists of meat processing and a bakery at the basement level, a ground-floor restaurant, and office space above the ground floor. In addition, we determined that with moderate reinforcement, the existing structure could support a vertical addition of an office level at the existing roof level, gaining valuable leasable area for the owner. The design team addressed a significant structural engineering challenge by devising a technically complex facade substructure to conceal control and expansion joints, panel seams, and shadow lines of the handmade glazed ceramic tiles, allowing it appear as a single mass of tile.
SERVICES
Structural
OWNER
Headington Companies
PROJECT COMPLETION
2018
Results
\ Historic renovation
\ Vertical addition
PROJECT PARTNER
5G Studio Collaborative
SIZE
28,000 square feet
\ Structural support for new roof-top mechanical equipment
\ Complex facade substructure for the 36,215 handmade glazed ceramic tiles designed by Cuban-born artist Jorge Pardo
\ 2019 Design Award Winner, Texas Architect Magazine
OUR WORK
5
Salas O’Brien
Expanding services for overstretched trauma facility
Methodist Health System Medical Center Emergency Department Expansion DALLAS, TX, USA
Methodist Charlton Medical Center has one of the busiest emergency departments in Dallas-Fort Worth. This expansion nearly doubles the size of their current space while increasing the number of beds.
Salas O’Brien provided services for structural design and construction administration, including accurate BIM modeling in Revit to coordinate with the design team and support the accelerated construction schedule. The foundation for the building includes drilled piers, and the superstructure is a cast-in-place concrete pan joist system—large steel-framed canopies for pedestrian and ambulance drop-off feature thin profiles and dramatic cantilevers. The building also includes below-grade parking and a new central utility plant.
Our forward-thinking structural design for this expansion prepares Methodist Charlton Medical Center to address patient needs today and flex to accommodate future growth.
SERVICES
Structural
COMPLETION YEAR
2022
CONSTRUCTION COST
$71 million
Results
SIZE
121,500 square feet
PROJECT PARTNERS
Guide Architecture
\ New central utility plant
“This is a quote about the project. A gnat venempo ratius dis modipis dolorum harum lam ipsandi ommolum aut es si ad eostis et, simpor mos eveniam sit, ut laborempedia dus nest.”
\ Cantilevered steel-framed canopies for pedestrian and ambulance drop-off
\ Accurate BIM modeling in Revit
Jane Someone Awesome Company
\ Cast-in-place concrete pan joist system
\ Below-grade parking
6
Salas O’Brien
From struggling mall to vibrant mixed-use community
Centurian American Development Group & City of Plano, Texas Collin Creek Mall Development PLANO, TX, USA
Salas O’Brien is partnering with the Centurian American Development Group (CADG) and the City of Plano to redevelop Collin Creek Mall. The $1 billion project will create a pedestrian-friendly community that incorporates retail, living, hospitality, and offices with open park spaces.
Phase I of the development began with partial demolition of the mall to accommodate current and future phases, requiring significant structural modifications to the exterior of the building. New construction in Phase I includes a three-story, 700,000-square-foot, below-grade parking garage functioning as the base of a six-story retail/restaurant/multifamily building. Complicating the garage’s engineering was the need to excavate adjacent to and below the foundations of the adjacent mall structure. In addition, the site fire lane was located on top of the parking garage, creating significant loads on the post-tensioned concrete structure. The size of this project requires our team to provide vital project management, flexibility, and responsiveness.
SERVICES
Structural
COMPLETION YEAR
Ongoing
PROJECT PARTNERS
Bush Architects
CONSTRUCTION COST
$160 million SIZE
1.5 million square feet
1.3 million square feet of office space
2,800 multifamily residences, senior living, and hotel rooms
540,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, and service
7
Salas O’Brien
Engineering unique heavy-metal separation equipment to enhance production efficiency
Audubon Metals Metal Separator Plant CORSICANA, TX, USA
Audubon Metals’ heavy-metal separator and aluminum alloy reprocessing plant uses a unique material separation device to separate aluminum alloy from shredded vehicles (zorba). Separated aluminum is melted, cast into small ingots, and packaged for shipment. It took seven months for the original design to be completed and installation was ahead of schedule.
Salas O’Brien designed and managed the material handling equipment: conveyors, eddy currents, trommels, vibratory feeders and screens, drum separators, dryers, baghouses, melting furnaces, and ingot production lines. In addition, multi-material separation is possible with this plant, including aluminum, steel, plastics, paper, coins, and many others. Our efficient equipment design results in the process taking approximately 42 days from the point of shredding an automobile to the point of shipping the aluminum ingots.
SERVICES
Industrial Process, Structural, Civil, Architecture & Interiors, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire Protection, Controls & Automation
COMPLETION YEAR
2021
PROJECT PARTNER
Skanska
CONSTRUCTION COST
$37 million
SIZE
160,000 square feet
81 million lbs
Annual capacity of aluminum alloy recycling
95-acre
Industrial park site
8
Salas
O’Brien
Combining tradition with sustainability to create the heart of a new city
City Hall MELISSA, TX
The City of Melissa, Texas, challenged our design team to create a city hall worthy of the heart of the town’s new civic center. Located on the newly developed Main Street, the new city hall fits superbly amongst the new retail and residential buildings making up the town center. City Hall maintains Texas’ rich tradition of stately historic courthouses, combining brick and stone that blend into the landscape, with tall windows providing natural light for the council chambers.
Our team provided structural engineering design and consulting for the City of Melissa’s new town hall project. The ground-up facility includes a courtroom, library, administration area, and city offices. The focal point of the steel-framed structure is the courtroom’s dome, along with hipped roofs.
SERVICES
Structural
OWNER
City of Melissa
PROJECT PARTNERS
The Beck Group
SIZE
42,000 square feet
Results
\ Ground-up facility
\ Two stories
\ Accommodates city government and various local services
\ Abundant natural light via continuous clerestory windows
Salas O’Brien 9
New charter school serves growing demand for classical education
John Adams Academy Charter School LINCOLN, CA USA
After two years operating inside portables, the John Adams Academy constructed its first ground-up K-12 school in Lincoln, CA, to serve the growing demand for classical education. Salas O’Brien provided structural engineering design for this approximately 95,000 square foot K-12 public charter school that will be site-adapted for additional locations in California.
Our design for the foundation system consists of a spread and continuous footings over an improved subgrade, and the superstructure is steel beam and bar joist framing. In addition, we added two firewalls (CMU or cast-inplace) in the classroom areas. The gymnasium includes CMU walls, and the exterior walls consist of non-load-bearing metal stud framing.
SERVICES
Structural
COMPLETION YEAR
2020
PROJECT PARTNERS
Parkway Construction & Architecture
Results
\ New construction
\ K-12 charter school
CONSTRUCTION COST
$29 million
SIZE
95,000 square feet
CONTACT
Scott Armstrong, scott.armstrong@ salasobrien.com
\ Three libraries, kitchen and cafeteria, gymnasium, performing arts area, soccer field, and lecture hall
\ Site-adaptable design
Salas O’Brien 10
Optimizing operations with a blast-resistant maintenance shop
Eastman Chemical Company LONGVIEW, TX, USA
Salas O’Brien collaborated with Eastman Chemical Company to build their petrochemical plant on a 6,000-acre manufacturing complex, adhering to rigorous criteria for blast-resistant architecture. Our structural team achieved this by fortifying the supporting infrastructure around the central location. A new 19,000-square-foot maintenance shop was integrated into the plan with a 32-foot ceiling clearance and high-strength floor to accommodate heavy machinery.
Heavily reinforced concrete wall panels and roof slabs protect personnel while minimizing building damage within the complex’s blast wave radius. Additionally, an adjacent area was created for administrative offices and equipment controls that must continuously run in order to monitor processes across the entire plant. Our team adjusted plans in real time as needed to balance height requirements with unique blast resistance criteria, ultimately resulting in a secure yet optimally functional space.
SERVICES
Structural, Seismic
Evaluation
COMPLETION YEAR
2020
PROJECT PARTNERS
Smith LaRock Architecture
SIZE
36,000 square feet
CONSTRUCTION COST
$7M
Results
\ Blast-resistant design
\ New construction
\ 32-foot ceiling clearance
\ High-strength floor
Salas O’Brien 11
Park Union Bridge CFS Engineering
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
Called “the bridge of the future”, the Park Union Bridge is a 250-foot-long $20M pedestrian bridge that connects the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum with America the Beautiful Park. Salas O’Brien was tasked with designing the CFS framing that supports the canted wall panels wrapping the inside of the twisting oculus. The CFS framing gradually curves and varies in height on each end, above and below the oculus.
SERVICES
Structural, CFS Engineering
COMPLETION YEAR
2022
PROJECT PARTNERS
Spacecon Speciality Contractors
AWARDS
2023 CFSEI Design Excellence
Award ,First Place- Non-Building Applications
NASA Ames Research Center
MOFFETT FIELD, CA
Our most recent project involved structural design for the wind tunnel complex, which houses the world’s largest wind tunnel—over 1,400 feet long and 180 feet high. We provided seismic load analysis and design of a high-pressure electric air heater base frame. Following NASA Ames Pressure System Safety requirements, the unique design uses ASCE 7 criteria of an I=1.5 importance factor. The project also uses CAESAR II pipe stress analysis software to determine gravity loads, temperature stresses, and seismic response spectrums.
SERVICES
Structural
COMPLETION YEAR
Ongoing
OWNER
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
90 Harbour and One York Mixed-Use Office & Residential
TORONTO, ON, CANADA
Salas O’Brien provided structural design for this $375M mixed-use development, including two residential towers measuring 66 stories and 70 stories (90 Harbour), a 37-story LEED Platinum commercial office building (One York), a fourlevel podium with 300,000 square feet of prime retail space, and a four-level underground parking garage.
SERVICES
Structural
COMPLETION YEAR
2019
PROJECT PARTNERS
BrenMar Construction
SIZE
800,000 sf
O’Brien 12
Salas
Brighton High School STEM & CTE Center Addition
BRIGHTON, CO
Salas O’Brien provided structural engineering design for the 56,000 square foot state-of-the-art center which connects to the existing building and provides students with dedicated learning spaces for automotive, culinary arts, engineering, health sciences, sports medicine, and AV/IT programs.
SERVICES
Structural
COMPLETION YEAR
2023
PROJECT PARTNERS
Eidos Architects
SIZE
56,000 sf
Corporate Wellbeing Center
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Our team assisted this confidential client with structural design and consultation for this groundbreaking project. The building’s structural plan incorporates a customized seismic system to withstand severe earthquakes while supporting the architectural concept for the structure.
SERVICES
Structural
COMPLETION YEAR
2022
SUSTAINABILITY
LEED Platinum, WELL Gold
AWARDS
2023 ACEC CA Honor Award for Engineering Excellence
2022 ENR CA Award of Merit, Healthcare
EPA Water Quality Research Laboratory Modernization and WED Master Plan
CORVALLIS, OR
Salas O’Brien worked with the EPA on the master plan of the entire Western Ecology Division campus. Renovations of the Water Quality Research Laboratory, which has been in use since 1965, involved seismic evaluation, structural repairs, and replacement of the existing HVAC systems. The project also saw 4,800 square feet of new annex space added for offices and storage.
SERVICES
Structural, Seismic Evaluation
COMPLETION YEAR
2022
PROJECT PARTNERS
Farnsworth Group
CONSTRUCTION COST
$35M
Salas O’Brien
13
Contact Us
Austin Scott Armstrong, PE Principal
9020 N Capital of Texas Hwy
Bldg 1, Ste 345
Austin, TX 78759
737.270.7550
scott.armstrong@salasobrien.com
Dallas Scott Douglass, PE Principal
12655 N US, 75 S Central Expy
Suite 720
Dallas, TX 75243
214.237.7022
scott.douglass@salasobrien.com
See more at salasobrien.com/services/built-environment/structural