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Bowles Hall University of California, Berkeley

Bowles HallUniversity of California, Berkeley

Bowles Hall is a reinforced concrete building of approximately 55,000 square feet on eight levels. The structure was designed in 1927 as the first residence hall in the University of California system. Designed by the architect George W. Kelham in the Collegiate Gothic style, the building is designated a landmark for the City of Berkeley and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. An active western trace of the Hayward earthquake fault passes underneath two corners of the building.

The building underwent a complete renovation and retrofit in 2016; Maffei Structural Engineering designed the retrofit measures, a building addition, and the structural work for the remodeling. The project was funded and managed through a public-private partnership, and the dormitory re-opened as a coeducational residential college, with dining services restored. Joe Maffei had previously designed structural measures, constructed in 2009, that allow the building and site to accommodate earthquake fault-offset with ground movement of six feet or more.



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