News

JAMA is pleased to welcome John Ward, SE, to the firm’s Oakland office as a Project Manager. John has applied his structural skills with concrete, wood, masonry and steel materials to design and construction oversight for projects ranging from a one-story steel and masonry community center to a 5 story post-tensioned concrete parking garage to a 300 ft tall performance-based-design concrete tower. As a Project Manager overseeing commercial, hospitality, mixed-use, modular and multifamily residential buildings, John plans to combine his passions with his technical expertise. Within the office we’re excited to hear more about his internships and study abroad fellowships in Poland, South Korea and Costa Rice, and welcome his analysis and drafting expertise into our ever-growing knowledgebase.

“Rises in the East” is a 40′ spoked segment of a Ferris wheel and single gondola in New Orleans’s Joe Brown Park. JAMA worked with LA-based contemporary artist EJ Hill and the steel fabricator, ensuring the structure could withstand high wind loads and that the foundations, which integrated 50′ timber piles, were secure in the area’s marshy substrate. The work was opened on December 11th and will be on view at least through January 23, 2022 as part of NOLA’s Prospect 5 triennial art festival. We, and the neighborhood, hope it will stay longer as a touching homage to the area’s Six Flags Park, destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Read more about this exciting project here.

JAMA’s single housing portfolio got some well-deserved kudos this week with the publication of a new Venice Beach house in Wallpaper*. Designed by architect Matthew Royce, the board-formed concrete and glass structure is an eye-catching interpretation of beach vernacular architecture. It’s also a departure from virtually all nearby homes through the integration of a spacious basement level that receives ample amounts of natural light and ocean breeze through ground floor openings and a cascade of water from the infinity-edge pool at the front of the site. Read more about the home here.

As an alumni and ardent supporter of the University of Southern California, it just seemed liked a natural step for Associate Principal Ben Rogowski to be voted in as a Board member of the USC Guild. Congrats to Ben on this honor and the Guild’s work to link the more than 700 current students, thousands of alumni and world-class faculty affiliated with the School of Architecture with the professional community. According to Ben, “This opportunity allows me to expand my mentorship capabilities, lend my knowledge of AEC industry trends and insights to School of Architecture students, and of course, help with annual fundraising efforts such as the Gala and Golf Tournament, which fund student scholarships.”

It’s official!! As of July 1st, California Building code now permits high rise mass timber buildings up to 18 stories. The work of JAMA Principal Matt Timmers, in his role as a member of the International Code Council (ICC)’s Ad Hoc Committee on Tall Wood Buildings, has helped this process along. In addition to initiating an office-wide initiative to advance research and applications into seismically active zones, Matt is currently leading several mass-timber structural design efforts and assisting clients in learning the environmental, schedule and in some cases cost benefits of this structural system.  Read more about the changes here.

The award-winning Cal Poly Student Services Building, a 140,000 two-part structure designed by CO Architects and constructed by C.W. Driver, utilized RISA modeling software to generate the intricate and complex geometry of the steel roof structure. This defining feature not only helps the facility serve as an icon at the camps’ entry but serves important sustainability functions by shading the structure’s windows and outdoor gathering areas. The full article can be found here.

JAMA has announced 10 promotions across the leadership, engineering, and drafting teams in June. Each of the following groups, along with other staff, ensure the highest levels of client service and innovation, and have kept JAMA at the forefront of structural engineering in high seismic zones. Kim Pacheco – Associate Principal James Lee – Senior Project Manager Hossain Ghaffari – Senior Project Manager Erik Hilkey – Project Manager Adena Nik Gieger – Project Manager Kim Carden – Project Manager Heryang Lee – Senior Project Engineer Mitch Fanning – Senior Project Engineer Michael Garcia – BIM Coordinator Erick Molina – BIM Coordinator

Trusses are going up! The first set of 81’ glulam trusses have been installed to create the vaulted roof of the central nave at St. Charles Borromeo in Visalia, California. The church, designed by Radian Design Group and constructed by S.C. Anderson, features scissor trusses and large glulam compression/tension rings over a central altar. With a seating capacity of more than 3,000 the facility will be the largest seating-capacity Catholic church in the country. The project is expected to be complete in Spring 2022.