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The 274-bed California Pacific Medical Center, set for completion in 2020, is using some advanced materials to survive the next big earthquake. The building on Post and Van Ness will incorporate walls filled with the same viscous material, polyisobutylene, used in soccer balls.
The "goo" is designed to absorb the shock of an earthquake and enhance the survivability of the structure, reports Fox News. The building will have 120 wall dampers full of the material placed throughout the hospital in regular intervals to handle the stresses of a seismic event. As one floor of the building crumples into another during an earthquake, the energy of the crash will dissipate into these dampeners, allowing the building to survive.
In tests, the material performed exceptionally and didn’t fail, said Degenkolb Engineers senior principal Jay Love. The firm is overseeing the $2B project.
Resilience of real estate is quickly becoming one of the hot areas of sustainability. Technical and architectural solutions such as "gooey" walls are necessary in earthquake prone regions such as the Bay Area. [FN]
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