AMG Resume

ADAM M. GRECO, S.E.

EDUCATION:The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

                        B.S., Civil Engineering, 1986

                       

                        University of California, Berkeley

                        M.S., Structural Engineering, 1987

REGISTRATION:Civil Engineer - No. 49119 - State of California

Structural Engineer - No.  4077 - State of California

ASSOCIATIONS:Structural Engineer of Southern California

ASCE - American Society of Civil Engineers

EXPERIENCE:    Weiskopf & Pickworth, New York - (1987 - 1990)

Degenkolb Engineers, San Francisco - (1990 - 1996)

Degenkolb Engineers, Los Angeles - (1996 - 2003)

Risha Engineering Group, Los Angeles - (2003 - 2008)

Brandow & Johnston, Inc. - (2008 - 2011)

AMG Structural Engineers - (2011-present)

A Structural Engineer, Mr. Greco has twenty seven years of progressively responsible experience in structural design, earthquake engineering, and project management.  His experience includes; seismic evaluation and retrofit of historic and existing buildings, residential construction, structural design of mixed use developments, and hotel remodels.  Residential projects include both single family and multifamily buildings.  Mr. Greco has experience with a wide range of building types that include: URM buildings, Steel Frame Buildings with Brick Infill, Steel Braced Frame Structures, Ductile reinforced concrete shear walls, and Non-Ductile concrete frame and shear wall Buildings. 

Over the past twelve years Adam Greco has been the engineer of record for numerous adaptive reuse projects located in downtown Los Angeles.  The downtown projects were all older 4-story to 12-story office and industrial buildings built from 1910 to the 1950’s; and converted into residential units in the upper floors, retail on the ground floor, and in some cases, parking in the basement.  Adam has developed an expertise in non-linear analysis methods and has applied this knowledge in many renovation and seismic strengthening projects for historic and existing buildings.

Notable Historic Building seismic upgrades include; Hotel Del Coronado, San Bernardino Santa Fe Depot, University of Redlands Memorial Chapel, and the Biscuit Company Lofts.  Seismic strengthening of Non-Ductile concrete buildings include; Sather Gate Garage, Toy Lofts, Victor Clothing Building, 117 Winston Avenue, and 360 South Alameda Street.

AMG STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS EXPERIENCE:

Seismic Strengthening:

Fairfield Hotel Conversion and Seismic Strengthening; West Tower – AMG Structural Engineers provided full engineering design services for the hotel renovation and voluntary seismic upgrade of a 1960 non-ductile concrete building located in El Segundo California.  The existing nine-story building construction consists of; post-tensioned lift slabs supported by steel box columns and three cast-in-place concrete core walls.  The seismic strengthening included strengthening the central elevator core with new concrete walls the full height, strengthening the three core wall foundations with new grade beams and deep drilled piers, strengthening floor and roof diaphragms with steel bars and plates, and reinforcing the lift-slab to column connections with new steel brackets.

Fairfield Hotel Conversion and Seismic Strengthening: Main Hotel – AMG Structural Engineers provided full engineering design services for the hotel renovation and voluntary seismic upgrade of a 1958 hotel.  The hotel is a four-story reinforced masonry building with wood floor construction.  Seismic strengthening included adding new concrete walls in the basement story to mitigate a soft and weak story condition.  Three new full height concrete shear walls were added to the building’s plan to reduce seismic damage.

Stone Bell Tower Seismic Strengthening - AMG Structural Engineers provided full engineering design services for the hotel renovation and voluntary seismic upgrade of a three-story unreinforced stone bell tower built in the 1920’s.  Project included rebuilding the top portion of the tower with new steel framing supporting stone veneer anchored to light gage metal framing.  The seismic strengthening included adding a concrete liner to the inside of the tower and a mat foundation.

Building Renovation and Repairs:

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Elevator Shaft - Provided full engineering design services for the construction of a new elevator shaft to be cut through the existing 13-story historic concrete hotel.  A new structural steel framed shaft was designed to support the free edges of the existing concrete slabs and all the elevator reactions.  Steel bracing penthouse structure was designed to support the elevator machine beams, rail reactions, wind, and seismic loads above the roof level.  A mat foundation was designed to support the steel framing and elevator pit.  To eliminate the need for temporary shoring during the concrete slab demolition the steel framing was designed and detailed to provide full support of the concrete slabs before cutting and removing.  The structural steel detailing also allowed phased construction at one floor level at a time.

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Johnny Grant Penthouse Suite Renovation – Provided full engineering design services for the renovation of the Johnny Grant penthouse suite located on the roof of the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.  The project included converting the roof area to an outside deck accessible to hotel guests.  New deck framing was designed to span between existing building columns for the increased live loading, two existing hotel stairs were extended up from the 12th floor to the roof, and selected existing concrete roof framing was strengthened. 

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Historic Sign Renovation – Provided full engineering design services for the renovation of the historic sign.  The sign is a steel framed billboard type, non-building structure, that is located on the third floor roof of the concrete hotel building.  The project consisted of adding a new digital board to the front of the sign and restoring the billboard surround and lighting.  The engineering scope included structural analysis and evaluation of the existing steel framing to support the additional load from the new digital board.   New steel bracing and supports were added to strengthen the sign structure for gravity loads in combination with wing and seismic forces.  The new steel framing was detailed to be constructed in small light pieces and positions in the structure to avoid conflicts with existing sign elements.

530 W. 7th Street, Los Angeles, Brockman Lofts Window Washing Equipment Supports – Provided full engineering design services for supporting new window washing pedestals and tie backs.  The new supports were located on the roof of the 13-story historic steel framed building located in downtown Los Angeles.  New concrete and steel structural elements were designed and detailed to transfer reactions from the pedestals and tie backs into the building’s primary structural members.

Beverly Laural Hotel Renovation – Provided full engineering design services for supporting new architectural improvements.  The hotel was built in the early 1960’s and is a 4-story structure with reinforced masonry exterior walls, wood floor and roof framing, and a subterranean concrete parking lot.  Improvements included; a new lobby ceiling that extended into the courtyard, a new exterior canopy, and remodel of some of the rooms.  A critical issue for the project was not to trigger structural upgrades of the building for wind and seismic.  This was achieved by connecting the new architectural elements from existing structural members capable of supporting the improvements.

St. Andrews Fire Damage Repair – Provided full structural engineering design services for a 6-story steel framed residential building built in 1926.  Fire completely destroyed the building’s roof structure and top story interiors.  The building has a complete steel frame, wood floor framing, and brick masonry infill exterior walls.  The structural design solution consisted of rebuilding the top story with structural steel framing supporting metal decking, removing most of the exterior brick infill walls above the 6th floor and replacing it with light gage metal stud framing.  New steel braced frames were designed to brace the top story for wind and seismic loads.

Food Market Truss Repairs - Provided structural engineering consulting services for wood bow-string truss repairs.  Engineering services included the structural analysis and evaluation of four 50 foot span built-up wood bow-string trusses that had significant splitting and cracking in some of the wood members and at bolted connections.  AMG Structural Engineers was also responsible for designing and detailing the structural repairs that included; replacing truss bottom chords, adding new tension rods, and adding additional bolts to truss end connections.

Newhaven Townhomes Fire Damage Repairs – Engineer of record for the fire damage repairs to a two-story wood framed townhome.  The fire damaged portions of the front elevation, second floor and roof framing.  The structural solution consisted of replacing the front wall structural sheathing, rebuilding portions of the roof, and replacing header over garage door.

Building Evaluations:

1745 East 7th Street seismic evaluation of an 8-story non-ductile concrete frame warehouse building built in 1920.  Provided consulting engineering services for seismic upgrade scope required to convert the building to residential units.

San Francisco Hotel seismic risk evaluation (PML), and structures condition study.  Provided engineering consulting services and completed a detailed seismic risk evaluation of the 13-story steel framed/concrete shear wall building built in 1908. 

El Segundo Hotel Site seismic risk evaluation (PML), and structures condition study.  Provided engineering consulting services and completed a detailed seismic risk evaluation for three hotel buildings including two 9-story concrete buildings, and a 5-story masonry building.

Westwood Parking Structure Engineering Evaluation – structural evaluation of the existing concrete deck framing for construction loads and a proposed new deck surface. 

Large Non-Ductile Concrete Frame Seismic Evaluation, West Los Angeles Hotel - Provided engineering consulting services and completed a seismic building evaluation of the 16-story concrete building built in 1968.  AMG Structural Engineers provided preliminary strengthening recommendations to improve the building’s seismic performance.

Single Family Residential Projects:

Residential projects all included adding additional square feet to existing structures that triggered upgrading the buildings for wind and seismic forces.  Projects completed by AMG Structural Engineers include; hillside structures, older homes supported by un-braced cripple walls, and single family homes supported by soft soils and unstable slopes.  The projects included adding second stories or increasing the existing second stories to single family structures.  The additions required new floor framing, post and wall supports, and foundations.  Seismic strengthening included adding plywood sheathing to exterior and interior walls on the first and second stories.  Steel moment frames were used in two projects with open first floor plans.  Partial underpinning of the existing foundations under new gravity post locations limited the foundation seismic strengthening.  Deep foundations consisting of drilled piers and grade-beams were used in two projects where unstable soft soils were present.  Residential projects include:

Balmer; second story addition to 1920’s hillside residence.  This project was featured on “This Old House.”  Project included adding a new second-story, enlarging the first-story, removing and moving interior walls to open the first floor plan, and a full seismic upgrade with new foundations under the second story addition.

Griffin Avenue; structural repairs to a ruble foundation supporting a historic two-story Victorian home.  The foundation repairs including seismic strengthening the ruble walls with four new slender wall piers located on the inside face of the existing ruble to maintain the historic look of the exterior.

Aladdin Street; hillside stabilization and addition to one-story hillside residence.  Project required stabilizing the hillside fill under the residence with a new deep pier and grade beam foundation system.  New wood framing was designed to create an open floor plan.  A long-span steel moment frame laterally braced the building and provided clear access to the outdoors.

Ilona Avenue; second story addition.

East Poppyfields; second story addition.

Euclid Street; second story expansion.

20th Street; foundation repair and stabilization of single story residence.