The Glendale Community College Science Building is a 5 story structure with an approximate area of 92,500 sq. ft. It includes chemistry, geology, oceanography, biology, physics and computer science laboratories, as well as offices and classrooms. The building is placed against a hill side on the east end thus retaining two stories of dirt at that end. To alleviate the lateral push of the two stories of soil against the building, which would have substantially increased both the lateral system and the foundation requirements of the building, a permanent shoring/retaining wall was utilized. This permanent shoring /retaining wall was in lieu of the temporary shoring wall that would have been required for construction in any case. The permanent shoring /retaining wall isolated the 2 stories of hill side from the building while still allowing for the construction of the building adjacent to the wall, thus preserving real estate while eliminating the need for the building to hold up the hill side. This resulted in substantial savings in the foundations and lateral system of the building.
The Science building is of steel construction with concrete filled metal decks functioning as the slabs. The lateral system of the building is Buckling Restrained Bracing Frames. The foundation of the building uses cast-in-place drilled piles.
