News

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.

For years JAMA engineers have visited California Universities and Colleges as part of the winter Job Fair season, but with coronavirus numbers still at alarming levels those events have gone virtual. While engineers will still participate, things have largely pivoted online, with downloadable content, short videos giving insights into firm culture and working styles, and online applications. For 2021, both the Los Angeles and Oakland offices are looking for Summer interns and will engage younger designers and engineers in training in project work, educational opportunities and mentorship. Students can connect with the firm at the following job fairs or find out more on our johnmartin.com/employment page. UC Los Angeles: Jan 28 UC Berkeley: Feb 10 Stanford: Feb 11 UC San Diego: Feb 19 Cal Poly SLO: Feb 27

Two JAMA engineers have passed their Structural Engineer exams! Adena Nik and Erik Hilkey now have the authority and credentials to use the title “Structural Engineer.” Per California requirements, licensed civil engineers must successfully complete a 16-hour examination process, apply for licensure, and provide evidence of experience and references with the State’s Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG).Both Adena and Erik work on a wide range of education, healthcare and mixed-use projects, so elevation to the SE title benefits their clients and the overall JAMA team.

The Architects Newspaper featured a story this month on the recently completed City of Santa Monica City Hall East. The addition to City Hall is unique in it’s environmental achievements as it is the largest Living Building Challenge project to achieve Net Zero Energy and Net Zero Water in the US. The full article can be read here: https://www.archpaper.com/2020/10/frederick-fisher-partners-santa-monica-city-services-touts-its-net-zero-bona-fides/

JAMA Principal Matt Timmers was a speaker at Advancing Mass Timber Construction 2020, a virtual conference focused on optimization, design and delivery of mass timber structures. Matt spoke on September 29th of the 20-day conference and was joined by architect Sindhu Mahadevan of Perkins + Will. His topic, “Setting up a Collaborative Design-Assist Process With All Project Partners to Optimize Project Delivery” focused on the following: Establishing a collaborative culture and common goal from day one to streamline design development. Understanding the role of the mass timber manufacturer in design and how to effectively integrate them with the wider project team to cover every aspect of design and engineering. Highlighting the decisions that must be made earlier in design development to positively impact project cost and schedule.

JAMA team members are celebrating the completion of the Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park MOB. The facility, one of more than a dozen completed by JAMA, was designed and constructed with an aggressive schedule within the tight site of a fully developed medical campus in Baldwin Park. Restricted to 60,000 square feet because of campus entitlements, initial planning indicated that the project should be 3 stories, but with Orthopedics taking up more than 50% of the buildings function, a separation of their spaces was going to have a detrimental impact on the quality of member care. The team, which included SLAM Collaborative (architects) and Pankow (contractors) focused on developing a solution that could deliver the highest quality of patient experience. Ultimately a 2-story building with a continuous floor dedicated to the Orthopedics department’s needs and accessory functions achieved that goal.

Now, perhaps more than ever, our industry is looking to leaders to guide us through uncertain times ahead. At JAMA we are proud to announce our leadership has been strengthened with the following promotions. Here’s to an amazing group of fearless leaders and their ability to not only help JAMA survive, but thrive. Well done! Matt Timmers, Principal Ben Rogowski, Associate Principal Greg Orozco, Associate Principal Justin Chung, Associate Principal

What began as a competition to explore mass timber in high-rise design in California has blossomed into a fully funded supportive housing development. Located in Skid Row, the Alvidrez is a 14-story tower containing 150 studio apartments and “support spaces” on the ground floor, which will include case management, individual and group counseling, and group activities to improve the health and well-being of residents. A collaboration between JAMA, Michael Maltzan Architecture, and Skid Row Housing Trust, the project is currently in concept design and expected to break ground in mid-2022. The “vertical bundle” massing of this permanent supportive housing development was determined in part by the construction logic of its framing system. A mass timber gravity system is being combined with a traditional lateral system to meet sustainability guidelines, while the units were designed using modular building blocks made of mass timber floor planks, steel or glulam beams, and glulam columns. Th