Kansas Restaurant
Caracas, Venezuela
Architecture: Lugar común Oficina de Arquitectura
Construction Area:   185 m2
Sector: Commercial
Scope: Structural Retrofit
Project year: 2013
Construction year: 2013

It is a project that consists of the renovation and modernization of the facilities of an existing building to be adapted to a restaurant. The authorities of the Chacao municipality in the city of Caracas do not allow the demolition of the existing roof in that area, so it must be preserved. To comply with the restaurant's programs, the area must be expanded, so a support structure is also included, which is used to support two new water tanks.

The existing building corresponds to a concrete roof made up of a 30 cm thick ribbed slab in one direction, which has a height of approximately 3 m. It is supported on 20 cm x 20 cm concrete columns and the axes of the structure are arranged orthogonally with several columns placed eccentric to said axes. Seismic regulations indicate that the existing configuration requires structural adaptation, which allows it to comply with the established requirements.

A solution was chosen that did not eliminate any of the existing elements, so it was adopted as a reinforcement solution in a perimeter auxiliary metal structure made up of braced columns in the longitudinal direction and special moment trusses (STMFs) in the transverse direction. as specified in the American standard AISC 341. The trusses are connected to the existing roof slab through perforations filled with mortar, allowing the transmission of forces from the slab to the metal structure in the event of displacement due to an earthquake. It is possible to preserve the existing structure without impacting the area to be used specified in the restaurant's programmatic requirement.

For the expansion, a metal structure was designed, arranged orthogonally and separated from the existing building through a 5 cm joint. This structure supports a 10 cm thick roof formed from a composite mixed slab. Four water tanks with a capacity of 2,000 liters will be placed on the roof. The system resistant to seismic stresses is made up of trusses and special moment frames (STMFs), arranged in the main directions.

A system of foundations of rectangular footings placed at a minimum depth of two meters is proposed, as recommended by the study of soils supplied for the project.