The Sorenson Legacy Foundation Center is designed to foster research, training and clinical service for adults, adolescents and families. Construction of the four-story, 100,000-sq-ft facility was difficult due to its close proximity to other buildings on the medical campus. A typical cantilevered retaining-wall solution and the excavation space it required were out of the question. However, the use of horizontal-spanning, mini-shear walls in the basement and long-span floor beams on the above-grade floors enabled crews to get the job done. The team solved structural-load problems that came with building a large auditorium-style classroom directly on top of the underground parking by using lightweight geofoam to support the sloping floor, then covering it with a thin layer of concrete.

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