Portola Valley Residence II

Portola Valley, CA

With the San Andreas Fault line running through the front yard—which contained liquefiable soils—FTF presented options to the project team that would make the house more disaster-resistant than code regulations required. Given the geotechnical and geological challenges of the site, this resulted in the recommendation of a 12” thick concrete mat slab foundation, further reinforced with a grid of 30” deep concrete beams. Because of FTF’s innovative approach and seismic concern, this design easily passed through the rigorous Portola Valley Building Department approvals process.