Project Location: Santa Monica, California Client: Westminster Tower Completion Date: 1997 (Seismic retrofit) Construction Cost: $7,000,000 Square Footage: 200,000 Westminster Tower is a 17-story nonductile reinforced concrete frame that suffered damage, particularly to concrete columns, during the Northridge earthquake. Repairs were designed for the building, with the principal concern being the performance of the sheer critical exterior columns. The challenging part of this project was to not only strengthen the foundation by driving 60ft. deep piles into the ground, and add exterior concrete sheer walls to the building for reinforcement, but to accomplish all this work while the building was still occupied by tenants. Despite the obstacles that had to be overcome, the project was a complete success due to the close coordination of the Architect, Building Management, and the Contractor. The exterior sheer walls were designed to both strengthen the building, as well as update the appearance of this 40-year-old structure to fit the current architectural vocabulary of Santa Monica.