Salas O'Brien's Building Science Services

BUILDING SCIENCE Services for Your Facility’s Every Life Stage

Engineered for Impact

Salas O’Brien’s building science expertise is based on decades of experience. Our industryleading knowledge of building science principles, systems, and components allows us to provide clients with cost-effective, innovative, and resilient solutions.

“I’m incredibly proud of the work our team does. We are saving precious natural resources and creating a more sustainable world. It isn’t always easy, but it’s measurable, and can be done. It takes courage and knowledge to make a better world, and Salas O’Brien is uniquely positioned to carry our tangible impact far into the future.

Darin Anderson CEO, Salas O’Brien

What we offer:

\ Building envelope assessment, design, and testing

\ Infrastructure rehabilitation and planning

\ Physical condition assessments

\ Building restoration

\ Reserve fund studies and performance audits

\ Feasibility studies

\ Special structural engineering projects

\ Engineering peer review

\ Expert witness

\ Energy modeling

\ Sustainability consulting

>30

Years of Structural Building Science experience for clients across North America

A full range of services for every stage of your building’s life

Building envelope assessment, design, and testing

Also known as the building enclosure, or the “physical separator between the conditioned and unconditioned environment”, the building envelope plays a vital role in a comfortable and safe building. Salas O’Brien offers a comprehensive suite of services dedicated to evaluating, revitalizing, testing and enhancing the building envelopes of diverse structure types.

Infrastructure rehabilitation and planning

Our expertise spans assessing and rehabilitating vital components such as roads, parking lots, bridges, sea walls, and more. We offer full planning and project management services, integrating sustainability practices and facilitating regulatory compliance to deliver holistic infrastructure preservation and improvement solutions.

Condition assessments and building restoration

Our building restoration services encompass a comprehensive range of services, from restoring existing structures and in-depth condition assessments to leak investigations. We specialize in waterproofing solutions for foundations, podium decks, balconies, and parking garages.

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Asset management

Our Asset Management services fall into three primary categories, depending on your needs and focus:

\ Building Condition/Facility Life Cycle Assessments are primarily undertaken for public sector clients for use in capital planning budgets to assist with forecasting future repairs and replacement projects. .

\ Property Condition Assessments (PCAs) are pivotal in financial transactions, guiding decisions in buying, selling, and refinancing assets. PCAs offer a concise 10-year outlook on property condition, aiding stakeholders in informed decision-making for real estate transactions and financing.

\ Reserve Fund Studies are performed for Home Owner Associations, Condominium Boards, and property managers. Reserve fund studies help guide clients in setting future HOA or tenant fees, enhances financial planning, and provides owners with a road map for future capital expenditures.

Special structural engineering projects

Your unique project demands engineering based on artistic vision. Salas O’Brien supports clients through special projects that require equal attention paid to aesthetics and structure. Whether for a new feature stair, a new storefront facade, or a new roof-top equipment platform. Our team is poised and ready to take on any project. We also provide engineering peer review, feasibility studies, and expert witness services.

Sustainability consulting

Salas O’Brien has a long, proven track record of working with clients to design and deliver sustainable buildings. We develop cutting-edge solutions that prioritize energy efficiency, minimize environmental impact, and maximize building resiliency. We specialize in energy modeling, LEED project management and certification, WELL building consulting and performance testing, Green Globes certification, BOMA Best certification, numerous locallydriven sustainability programs, and building envelope commissioning, with seamless integration of sustainable elements.

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.

Headington Companies PROJECT COMPLETION 2018

Results

\ Historic renovation

\ Vertical addition

\ 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

Modernizing the Pacific Ecological Systems Division research lab

Environmental Protection Agency Water Quality Research Laboratory

Modernization/Expansion CORVALLIS, OR, USA

Salas O’Brien worked diligently on the master plan of the entire Western Ecology Division campus. Renovations that were a result of the master plan included modernization and enlargement of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) research facility, which has been in use since 1965, initially for the US Public Health Service. Services involved seismic evaluation, structural repairs, and replacement of the existing HVAC systems with cleaner versions capable of handling power outages.

The project also included 4,800 square feet of new annex space for offices and storage. We completed the project using a phased approach that minimized disruption to operations while taking advantage of cost savings through retrofitting the design within the existing building footprint while also preserving its historical value.

SERVICES

Structural Engineering, Master Planning, Seismic Evaluation

COMPLETION YEAR

2022

Results

PROJECT PARTNERS

Farnsworth Group, RTA Architects

CONSTRUCTION COST

$35 million

SIZE

44,000 square feet

\ 55+ years in service as a government lab

\ 15+ years as Salas O’Brien client

\ Campus master plan

\ Multi-phased structural repairs

ChemoCentryx, Inc. Double Helix Staircase SAN

Salas O’Brien provided structural engineering design and consulting services for this artistic one-of-a-kind project. The heart of the project is the staircase connecting the fifth and sixth floors. The structural supports are both sculptural and kinetic, maintaining the spiral shape. In addition, threaded rod hangers enable the structure to remain the focus while creating the illusion that the stair is floating.

Salas O’Brien provided a building condition assessment for the Marriott to ensure efficient capital performance. This building envelope condition assessment documented and identified significant defects in materials or systems that could affect the property’s value over the next ten years.

City of Toronto Roof and Window Replacements

TORONTO, ON, CANADA

Salas O’Brien partnered with the City of Toronto to provide investigation, design, and contract administration for a coldapplied roofing system for multiple city facilities, a heritage window replacement for Fire Station 241, the Toronto Police Headquarters, and University Settlement Community Centre, and a complete roof and window replacement for 126 Paper Avenue – a heritage-designated building.

One Beach Street

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Salas O’Brien partnered with RMW Architects to provide structural engineering to modernize the historic space and ensure compliance with current seismic codes. The completed building includes ground floor slab replacement, a glass box stair, stadium seating, and a spacious roof deck.

SERVICES Structural condition assessment,

Oracle Cloud Networking Facility, Cells 2.1 & 2.2 WEST JORDAN, UT

Working collaboratively with the owner, general contractor, and design team, Salas O’Brien engineered seismic updates to the existing facility. As a result, we successfully facilitated the structural design of an innovative multi-level plenum cooling system, significantly reducing energy and water consumption for the owner, which is essential for West Jordan’s extreme desert climate. SERVICES

GWL Realty Advisors Inc. Yonge Street Parking Garage Repairs

Salas O’Brien addressed the deteriorating state of this parking garage, which had seen its structural integrity compromised due to outdated waterproofing systems. The project included repairing structure concrete, replacing the waterproofing system, and rebuilding the drainage system—all while the parking garage remained operational.

COMPLETION YEAR

Passion & Expertise

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

\ Building envelope/building science

\ Structural

\ MEP/FP

\ Civil

\ Commissioning

\ Energy & resiliency

\ Sustainability

\ Site utilities

\ Resource efficiency management

\ Technology

\ Acoustics

\ Digital & automation

\ Asset management

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