Visitors to the Segerstrom Shelby Event Center located in Irvine, California have the unique opportunity to enjoy a wedding, celebration, special event, or private tour surrounded by classic racing Cobras, high-performance Mustangs, and related nostalgia.  School-aged visitors can make it a learning experience crafted by the Center’s education specialists.  The collection is one-of-a-kind: owners Ted and Rae Segerstrom have amassed one of the largest collocations of Carrol Shelby automobiles in the world.

To create a home for the new center, Wright Engineers worked in a design-build capacity with Miller Construction.  The existing tilt-up concrete building was updated with a full seismic upgrade.  The second floor was opened up to create a “race track” design with views to additional cars below.  But perhaps the crowning structural element is the car stacker, pictured here.  Our only regret is that our own Scott Jones’ restored 1966 candy apple red Mustang convertible isn’t a Shelby—because it sure would look good on that stacker in our humble opinion!

 

THE COLORADO

Situated on Main Street in the heart of the Las Vegas Arts District and just minutes from the Strip, the Colorado adds its own unique style to the downtown retail and restaurant scene.  “The long cantilevers required some creative design,” said Arrian Forbush, PE, Wright’s PM for the project. “The cantilevered steel beam at the second floor is anchored into double a wythe masonry wall at the tower feature and required intricate analysis and detailing to ensure solid anchorage and to control deflection and vibrations.”  Bunnyfish Studio is the project’s architect.