Main Post Office Renovation
Philadelphia, Pa.

Our renovation of the Main Post Office has won the 2011 Philadelphia Preservation Alliance Grand Jury Award, to be presented May 17, 2011. We provided structural engineering services to architect Bohlin Cywinski Jackson for the renovation and office conversion of the 900,000-sf historic building, completed in 1935. The project included a seismic assessment of the existing building, removal of several interior bays to create a four-story interior atrium, design of blast reinforcing for the glass atrium roof, a mechanical room addition at track level and preservation of the retail corridor. The building straddles tracks for Amtrak’s northeast corridor. Challenges included suspending pits for new elevators from the existing framing, rebuilding deteriorated framing at the active track level and reinforcing existing structures for new high-density file systems. The building has been LEED certified. The IRS is the building’s main tenant.