Steven Tipping is developing and engineering what is likely the world's smallest seismically isolated structure. The 7,500-sq-ft building in Berkeley about a half-mile from California's Hayward fault is an investment property as well as an office expansion.
Complete with column-mounted triple-pendulum isolation bearings, 1908 Shattuck Avenue is also the seismic engineer's pet project. "We tell clients they should do this," says Tipping, who is paying a $200,000 premium to isolate the $3.8-million building. "I wanted to put my money where my mouth is."