James Logan Center for the Performing Arts
Union City, Calif.

The new James Logan Center for the Performing Arts, winner of the AIA Santa Clara Valley and CASH Honor design awards, opened recently. We provided structural design to AEDIS Architecture & Planning, Inc. for the 600-seat theatre and performing arts classroom building on the Logan High School campus. The facility is two seismically separated structures. Seismic forces are resisted by special concentrically braced frames which are exposed throughout the interior of the structure. Working closely with the architect, we developed brace connection details utilizing circular gusset plates and other features, meeting the architect’s aesthetic goals while maintaining the ductility performance requirements of the system. Additional structural challenges included the complexities inherent in large performing art centers, such as a cantilevered and stepped balcony, extensive catwalks, underground air delivery and a multilevel rigging system. The sloped roof was designed to support an array of photovoltaic panels that will generate a large portion of the campus’ power. A second floor patio provides an outdoor music practice area, and a new wheelchair accessible press box cantilevers over the adjacent stadium bleachers.