Hearst Hall, Berkeley, California
Bernard Maybeck, architect
Location
In 1898 Phoebe Hearst commissioned Bernard Maybeck to design a building which was to serve a s both a reception hall for an architectural competition that she was hosting at the Universty of California Berkeley , and as the social and cultural center of t
he university. The Hall was constructed to be easily dismantled after the competition so it could be moved to a permanent location of the University, where it would serve a multiplicity of functions. Besides its primary function as the women's gymnasium
it accommodated social events, such as musical and stage productions as well as having a dining hall on the first floor big enough to accommodate 500 people. The floor plan consisted of a main hall with smaller arched bays on both ends of its principle
axis and was flanked by false towers constructed entirely our of wood. The first floor was twelve feet high with a diagonal structural system of post and beams secured laterally by diagonal corner braces that are well integrated to take a substantial por
tion of the vertical bearing load. this first floor served as a platform upon which the arched hall was placed. The arches were constructed of two laminated wood beams with a 60 foot radius that formed a pointed three hinge arch. These were constructed
on site using 2" x 8" redwood lumber nailed together after being bent into a radial form and then through bolted, although these bolts were not tightened until after the arches were erected and loaded. The arch-beam dimensions ere approximately 8" x 24"
, maintaining this cross sectional dimension throughout their length and were 54 feet high and 60 feet across at the base. The main hall consisted of six bays, each having two adjacent arches, thus making it structurally independent of the next bay so a
bay could be readily disassembled into two pieces for easy transport. The end arches were consequently single, while the intermediate arches are doubled. The lateral thrust force created by the arches was resisted by the hall floor's joist and beam stru
cture acting in tension. Light was let in through the arch structure at each bay through a wooden screen that is covered by gable dormers that rose from the roof gallery. The structure, both inside and out, was sheathed in three foot long redwood shingl
es. The loads that the upper arched structure had to resist consisted of dead loads such as the roof, structural components, and the gallery deck and associated live loads, as well as the live wind loads.
Vertical Loading
The vertical loads named in the above section are transferred down by the three hinge arch system which rested on the first floor structure. These arches experienced both compression and tension inherent in arches. The lamination of the arches created s
ome very strong members, which could never have been bought due to their cross sectional size and the member's length and curvature. The roof gallery, located one half the wayup the arches, is supported by both the arch beams and vertical columns. These
columns are 8"x8" and reach from the foundation level to the base of the roof gallery, forming part of the exterior stud curtain wall. Buckling of the slender columns was checked by hirizontal ties which cut the effective buckling length in half and pro
ject into the hall as decorative elements and outside the hall to support planting boxes. These ties also serve to "tie" the two systems together: the curtain wall and the three hinge arch. The path a load would take from the roof to the foundation woul
d travel down the arches (creating both tension and compression within the member and tension across the floor structure) through the columns of the first floor and on down to the foundation and soil.
Lateral Loading
Lateral loads are resisted transversely to the axis due to the shape and inherent nature of a three hinge arch system. Longitudinal lateral loads are resisted minimally by the purlings that span between arches and primarily by the exterior shear wall and
roof gallery floor. The wall and the floor act together to create an L-shaped rigid diaphragm that traverses the length of the main hall without window openings. Longitudinal loads would be resisted at the connection of the arches by the roof gallery d
eck which would transmit this load to the outside wall and down to the first floor's braced post and beam system mentioned earlier.
History
Physical Description
Building Process
Structural Descripton/Aspects
Conclusions
Bibliography
- Last Name, First Name. Book title. Publisher, City. year. ISBN Number.
- Last Name, First Name. Book title. Publisher, City. year. ISBN Number.
- Last Name, First Name. Book title. Publisher, City. year. ISBN Number.
- Last Name, First Name. Book title. Publisher, City. year. ISBN Number.
Associated Buildings
what are some buildings that are appropriate to look at to further understand this building? this can be from spatial ordering concepts to structural types.....
Case Study Author
Matthew Zanger and Brint Riggs
ARCH 461/561 Spring 1995
Do you have questions about adding a case? or a building to suggest??????? send a message to me.......
chrisl@aaa.uoregon.edu