New Galveston SHOPE Lab

Located on the top level of a three-story cast-in-place concrete, brick-clad building, this containment laboratory is constructed abutting, and partially overhanging, an existing building designated for historic preservation. 

IMEG provided structural engineering and design services for the project. Structural systems were carefully designed around unusual site-specific challenges, such as a deeply cantilevered post-tensioned roof from which portions of the second and third floors are suspended. The design wind speed used for the project is 140 mph — equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. 

The safety of lab workers and neighboring communities is of paramount importance in all aspects of the structural design. Containment areas were strictly designed to limit concrete cracking in order to be compatible with brittle epoxy wall and floor coatings. Containment for biological hazard is accomplished by a “box in a box” concept. The principal interior 8” thick concrete walls and 12” slabs comprising the primary containment are surrounded by the exterior 10” concrete walls, which serve as secondary containment.