Valspar Lab Campus Building 4

Provided structural, civil, and restoration engineering for a major remodel to accomplish re-purposing a vacant building for state of the art research and test labs to enable Valspar, Inc. to consolidate their North American Research and Test Lab capabilities into one campus.

The new Valspar Applied Science and Technology (VAST) Center is comprised of four buildings at the intersection of 11th Avenue South and 3rd Street South in Minneapolis.  This project renovated Building #4, which is comprised of two adjoining buildings totaling approximately 170,000 square feet.  The first is a five-story building that was constructed in 1903 with a wood timber structural frame, wood decking, and load bearing masonry exterior walls.  

The second is a three-story building that was constructed in 1912 as a concrete frame with concrete beams and one-way slabs.  Structural work consisted of supports for extensive roof top equipment to serve the laboratory spaces, modifications for installation of a new elevator, framing for a new stair and extension of an existing stair, removal/replacement of the existing recessed dock slab, framing for a new blast room, and several new lintels for mechanical penetrations through the fire separation wall between the five- and three- story buildings.  

Restoration work consisted of removal and replacement of distressed face brick and steel lintels, façade tuckpointing, crack repair, paint removal, and repair of cornice elements.  Civil work consisted of regrading, new utility services, restoration of public sidewalks, and pavement restoration for a 2.6 acre site.