This Oakland office building basement offices were flooding two or three times a year after heavy storms and several weeks of intermittent rain. The bank Initially hired a large international engineering firm that blamed the problem on global warming.
The bank then hired Hilliard Architects. Our multidiscplinary team identified faulty original design as the culprit. The design required more than 21 inches of standing water to accumulate around the outside basement walls before the water would drain to the sewer.
Exacerbating the problem was undersized rainwater leader that channel water into non-draining recessed planters next to the building. Years of water flowing through the basement wall waterproofing and wall had compromised the ability of the system to keep the water out.
Hilliard Architects prepared construction documents, provided construction administration, and the basement is now dry.
