The Grimes Engineering Center at UC Berkeley won the architecture category in Fast Company’s 2026 Innovation by Design Awards. The award recognizes design that solves problems in the built environment — in this case, the adaptive-reuse of the former Bechtel Engineering Center and innovative use of Shape-Memory Alloy (SMA) in a seismic-responsive structural system. 

Developed with researchers at UC Berkeley’s engineering school, the application of SMA lateral tension rods ensure that the structure returns to a plumb position after a seismic event, acting like structural rubber bands that snap back into place with minimal damage to the building. The system is left exposed as both a design decision and a built-in teaching tool for the engineering students the center serves. 

“This is a place where they test, understand, and deploy new technologies in seismic zones year after year after year,” says Mark Sarkisian, structural engineer partner at SOM. “It’s fun to be able to work with them to bring this forward in a visual way.”