Roble Hall at Stanford University: A Case Study in the Evolution of Seismic Rehabilitation Standards

Roble Hall is a historic, three-story dormitory, originally built in 1918, that houses 310 students on the Stanford University campus. Discovered in 1987 to be a non-ductile concrete frame with hollow clay tile infill, it was deemed to be a high seismic risk, students were moved out during the middle of the school year, and a fast-track seismic rehabilitation project was completed in 1989. The goal for that work was to significantly reduce the risk to life safety (primarily from collapse) at a reasonable cost. In 2005, a reevaluation of the building was completed using Stanford's latest performance-based standards, and additional rehabilitation work was implemented as part of an overall capital improvement program. Roble Hall provides an excellent case study in the evolution of seismic analysis procedures, performance-based thinking, and rehabilitation techniques. The following paper describes the criteria, analyses, performance objectives, and key decisions in each rehabilitation project, and it explores the challenges and opportunities that complicated, historic structures can present in providing practical, cost effective seismic rehabilitation solutions.