The Cheesecake Factory at 15th and Walnut Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Overview: Now home to the Cheesecake Factory, this 15th and Walnut Streets development originally began as three tagged vacant buildings. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson designed the sleek glass building that Inga Saffron says is “an original design that responds to its surroundings in a deeply informed way”. GeoStructures provided a geotechnical investigation to determine the load capacity of proposed foundation designs.

Highlights & Related Services:

Highlights & Related Services:

Test pits
Test borings with rock coring
Geotechnical laboratory testing
Construction inspection and testing
Concrete testing
Foundation investigation and design
Support of excavation and underpinning

GeoStructures was contracted by the architect, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, and the structural engineer, CVM Engineers, to perform a geotechnical investigation to determine the number of stories that could be supported by a strap footings foundation system (or a deeper one based on caissons). We performed 5 test pits and 3 test borings at selected locations around the existing buildings.

GeoStructures’ investigation revealed that strip and spread footings with slab on grade was the optimal means of supporting the proposed structure. The investigation also revealed that temporary shoring and underpinning was required for excavation support of the basement level during construction. It was determined that the strip and spread footings would accommodate a five-story loading.

During construction, GeoStructures also performed required special inspection and materials testing including foundations, concrete, and structural steel.