Welcome
Welcome to the Los Angeles Tall Buildings Structural Design Council world-wide-web home page. The Los Angeles Tall Buildings Structural Design Council formed in 1988 is a nonprofit organization whose members are those individuals who have demonstrated exceptional professional accomplishments in the structural design of tall buildings. The Los Angeles Tall Buildings Structural Design Council is a liaison organization to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, an international nonprofit organization of architects, engineers, planners, developers, and other professionals involved in the design, construction and operation of tall buildings.
Design Guidelines
design guidelines
LATBSDC publishes “An Alternative Procedure for Seismic Analysis and Design of Tall Buildings”.
The 2023 edition with 2024 supplements of the LATBSDC “An Alternative Procedure For Seismic Analysis and Design Of Tall Buildings” now available!
In Memoriam
Dr. Marshall Lew
Dr. Marshall Lew
Dr. Marshall Lew, a member of LATBSDC and a leader in the fields of geotechnical engineering and earthquake engineering, passed away peacefully in the presence of family on April 6, 2025, at the age of 75. Marshall is recognized as a leading practitioner and generous contributor to professional organizations for nearly 50 years. He is survived by his wife Jenny, children, and grandchildren.
Marshall received B.S. (1972), M.S. (1972) and Ph.D. (1976) degrees from UCLA. His Ph.D. was performed under the tutelage of Professor Gary Hart. In 2015, Marshall was named the Distinguished Alumnus of UCLA’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
Marshall began his career teaching engineering at California State University Long Beach, then Marshall joined the geotechnical firm LeRoy Crandall and Associates where he became a partner. The company experienced corporate mergers/acquisitions over the years with the result that Marshall worked at Law/Crandall, Mactec, Amec, Amec Foster Wheeler, Wood, and ultimately WSP, where he was Senior Vice President.
Marshall worked on many of the largest projects in southern California over the last 50 years, including the 73-story Library Square Tower (US Bank Building) which at the time was the tallest building in the western US, the Wilshire Grand Tower which then became the tallest building in the western US, several of the Los Angeles Metro rail lines, and several projects for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, including the Silver Lake Reservoir replacement project, a seismic evaluation of the Elizabeth Tunnel, new tunnels such as the RSC1A aqueduct, and dam projects. Marshall worked on numerous hospitals in California, including Keck Hospital of USC which was the first base isolated hospital in the world, the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, St. John’s Medical Center base-isolated hospital, Torrance Memorial Medical Center, and St. Joseph Medical Center.
Marshall worked on stadium projects such as San Diego Padres Petco Park Baseball Stadium, and as geotechnical plan check reviewer for SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Marshall worked on hundreds of ground motion evaluations and ground motion Peer Reviews in the western United States and guided the development of building codes in seismic design throughout his career.
Perhaps Marshall will be best remembered for his mentorship of many engineers, wherein he guided development in technical, professional, and personal skills. As a mentor and colleague, Marshall will always be remembered for his brilliant mind, his gentle disposition, and his steadfast work ethic.
LATBSDC plans to provide a research grant to students in Marshall Lew’s name, to continue the great work in seismic studies that Marshall performed for decades.