Chris Stone, S.E. is a Senior Project Engineer working with MHP’s Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit Team, focusing on existing steel and concrete buildings. Chris has evaluated numerous mid- and high-rise buildings within California. Many of the evaluations have been triggered by seismic retrofit ordinances such as those in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood. Other evaluations have been required by UC and CSU seismic requirements, proposed building modifications such as adaptive reuse projects, or have been performed on a voluntary basis as a risk mitigation effort.
Recently, Chris completed an evaluation of a 17-story apartment building in Santa Monica which was subject to the City’s Non-Ductile Concrete Seismic Ordinance. Through extensive analysis, he was able to demonstrate to the city and their Peer Review consultant that the existing building was in compliance with the ordinance, thus avoiding a costly retrofit. Chris is currently working on an adaptive reuse project in Downtown Long Beach involving the conversion of a 14-story concrete office building into an apartment tower.
Chris is proud of projects where his expertise in modeling and his knowledge of existing building codes have allowed him to demonstrate the adequacy of a building with little or no retrofit work required. He understands that there are very real economic and functional costs involved in retrofitting occupied buildings and that if he can prove through analysis that the building is satisfactory, it is a substantial benefit to both the owners and the tenants. When a building is found to be inadequate or an owner desires a higher performance level than the building currently supports, Chris takes pride in tailoring a solution to fit the project needs rather than using the easiest solution.
