Seattle Makes 'Performance' Skyscraper Approval Look Easy
Though its structural designs are often firsts, Magnusson Klemencic Associates has had relatively little difficulty convincing building officials in seismic Seattle that its performance-based skyscraper frames meet the objective of the prescriptive code. Sources credit the engineer and the buildings department for that.
MKA is “certainly a leader” in this area and “Seattle does a very good job managing the process,” says Joe Maffei, a principal with San Francisco-based Rutherford & Chekene, which reviewed Seattle’s two MKA “performance” projects.