MODULAR DESIGN AND ENGINEERING - R&S TAVARES ASSOCIATES, INC.
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Design, Structure & Development: Three on Abbott

Three on Abbott is a development of three prefabricated, detached homes on the corner of Voltaire & Abbott streets in Ocean Beach. The homes are located near San Diego's best attractions.  The project is sensitive to the area's wants and wishes, conforming by-right to all local zoning and ordinances.  It was constructed off-site to minimize disturbance to the community and surrounding businesses and are sustainably designed with the area in mind. Large roof decks offer 180 degree views to the water from the channel to the North to the Pacific to the West.

Structure: Alloy Nashville

Alloy is an 84 unit prefab multifamily community on Tech Hill in Nashville, Tennessee with amenities for an urbanite lifestyle. The project was constructed off-site in order to take advantage of modular construction's expedited building process, allowing the owners to get to market quickly and avoid costly overhead, general conditions and financing costs.

Containers: Quartyard

The Quartyard is an Urban Park by the team at RAD LAB constructed from repurposed shipping containers in the East Village Neighborhood of Downtown San Diego. 
What was once a 25,000 square foot vacant lot is now an outdoor community space, coffee shop, restaurant, dog park, beer garden, music venue and a rotating assortment of food trucks.  
We performed the structural engineering of the containers, canopies and foundations and assisted the team with permitting and approvals


​Structure: St. John's Interrim Hospital

When an F5 Tornado destroyed Joplin, MO's hospital in 2010, Modular construction was chosen to build a replacement interrim hospital on the site in record-breaking time. This 150,000 sf. hospital was built in both California and Nebraska and shipped to MO in 224 modules. It broke the record for the fastest-built medical facility 100,000+ sf. in the United States. 

​Structure: Dumosa Senior Housing

This modular 150 unit Senior Housing project in Yucca Valley was developed by National CORE. The community features 74 units for residents 55 and older who meet income limits.

Structure: Container House

This spec home, made utilizing six repurposed ISO shipping cargo containers was built in the Grant Hill neighborhood of San Diego. Its large decks offer stunning views of the San Diego bay and downtown with the Coronado Bridge serving as the focal point.

Design: RST Firehouse

Our experience in Fire Station design came about from the devastating California Wildfires of 2007. Several of us were evacuated and unable to return to their homes for a week not knowing whether or not our homes were still standing. From this and the media attention focusing on inadequate fire fighting resources in Southern California we set out on our own to research and develop an affordable fire station that could be built quickly.

Design: RST expanda.HOUSE

We designed the expanda.HOUSE as a concept house that could be a model of affordable sustainability. The home is designed to grow along with its occupant's needs - allowing for an attractive pricepoint for a first home. We are currently in talks with manufacturers across the country to form a network of easily deliverable expanda.HOUSEs to any region.

Design: RST Surfshack

We designed a series of Surf Shacks utilizing standard ISO shipping containers for easy deployment and installation in Costa Rica. Special attention was paid to the security of the dwellings and the transportability for sea-freight. Our design features 1,000 sf. of comfort area and an accessible roof to take in the views.

Structural: Connect Homes

We've been working with Jared Levy and Gordon Stott of Connect Homes for a long time, so when they sought out to revolutionize the process by which custom, sustainable and architecturally rich modular homes were created and sold, we couldn't not be a part. We've worked hand in hand with them in the design and manufacturing decisions for these homes and everyone's taking note.

Structural: High Tech High

We were brought on board for the structural design of HTH:CV, built at Southern Modular of California. The school utilized tube steel frame modules utilizing moment frames. We also coordinated the integration of the site-built and modular structures. Additional engineering was provided for the site-built canopy, photovoltaic attachment and rooftop-safety system. HTH:CV won a 2011 AIA COTE Award as one of 2011's top ten green projects.

Structural: Waldorf School

The expansion to the Waldorf School of Orange County utilized 32 modified shipping containers to complete new classrooms surrounding an assembly hall. This was the first containerized solution of its kind used in Educational Construction in California. The shipping containers allowed for a cost and time savings to the school and we are looking at bringing this method to several other sites. See a video of the school expansion here.

Structural: Marmol-Radziner

We've performed the structural design of Marmol-Radziner's custom pre-fab homes across the country. Utilizing steel moment frames and concrete with cantilevered columns, MRP's homes have been rewarding challenges for our structural team, facing obstacles such as LA's hillside ordinance and unique foundation systems and shoring have made these homes some of our most memorable projects.

Structural: Appalachian State University Dorms

Working with Berkshire-Hathway owned Clayton Homes, the new 4-story dormitories at Appalachian State University went up in 2010. This exciting project pushes the envelope of traditional modular construction in the United States mixing a hybrid solution of site-built and off-site components. Clayton Homes contacted us for our experience in multi-story modular projects.

Structural: Spinnaker Hotel

We developed a modular concept for the 18-story Spinnaker Waterfront Hotel with the hotel's development team. Our study utilized a unique system to allow for the 18-story design utilizing modular units.

Structural: Relocatable Silo

We designed a 70 ft. relocatable silo for Guntert & Zimmerman's New Zealand operations. This project was notable for giving us a chance to get to know another country's building codes. The silo is designed as a relocatable unit that can be shipped easily to another location. Seismic and wind design to match Australia building codes.

Structural: The Carneros Inn

The Carneros Resort Inn in Napa Valley was a unique project KIT Homes contacted us for. The inn was developed on what was once a mobile home community and is now a world-class destination in Napa Valley. We handled the structural design of the inn's two-story modular residences and hotel cabins notable for their second story reinforcement due to the spa, tower and balconies. Additional engineering was provided for the units' concrete stem-wall foundations.

Structural: Structural Systems

We've developed a number of Structural Systems for modular manufacturers of both residential and commercial structures for several states. States where we have current structural systems include: California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, New York and Pennsyvlania, among others.

Structural: Maritime Museum

The Sala Burton Maritime Museum is designated as a national landmark building located on the waterfront of the marina district in San Francisco. We were priviledged to assist Silas Custom Metal with the structural design of the museum's curved window storefront. The large banks of multi-paned curved windows provided a framing challenge for us and the contractor.

Structural: Modular Restrooms

We are proud to have assisted The Public Restroom Company with the structural design of many of their high-quality CMU modular restrooms across the country. These units are unique in their foundation design that is poured as part of the module and engineered to allow for no site-foundation preparation.

Structural: Livinghomes

We were pleased to assist Livinghomes with several of their houses, including the WIRED Livinghome shown here. The Ray Kappe designed house was unique in its its open floor plan with horizontal & vertical discontinuity. Additional foundation design of a deep-pile system on a sloped site under jurisdiction of the City of Los Angeles added complexity in meeting the Hillside Ordinance for the City of LA.

Forensic Engineering

We've helped a number of insurance clients and restoration specialists with such things as structural failures, seismic retrofits and fire remediations. The picture shown here was for the structural retrofit of several two-story condominiums damaged by fire, including the design of replacement shear walls and the building's wood diaphragm lateral system.

Structural: Michelle Kaufmann

We were fortunate enough to assist Michelle Kaufmann with the structural design and modular translation of her first few Breezehouses and Glidehouses - acting as a liaison between designer and manufacturer. Our help included the structural design, modular translation, developing construction documents and shop drawings.

Structural: Naval Reactor Facility

The Naval Reactor Facility project was a large project with demanding time-constraints set by the Army Corps of Engineers. We were responsible for the structural design of the two-story, brace-framed building built by Satellite Shelters. Please read our case study (PDF) on it.

Structural: Equipment Anchorage

We have assisted a number of industrial clients with equipment anchorage for their equipment. Some of our most notable include seismic anchorage design for several of Mission Linen's facilities in California and a series of glass racks designed to support massive glass panels up to 14 feet tall and 90,000 lbs in the event of an earthquake.

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