Fire Protection Engineering for St. Ignatius Church Restoration, San Francisco, CA

Category: Places of Worship

Square Footage: 43,390 sq ft

Services Provided: Fire Protection

Completion Date: 2024

Owner: St. Ignatius Parish

Contractor: PRIBUSS Engineering

Project Description

This project was part of St. Ignatius Parish of San Francisco’s extensive preservation and building upgrade initiative. St. Ignatius Parish, a historic landmark that has been an integral part of the San Francisco community since 1855, encompasses 43,390 square feet. The preservation project involved restoring all church windows and skylights, including stained glass windows, building additional restrooms, making the building more accessible, installing state-of-the-art fire alarm and fire suppression systems, and restoring church pews.

Pragmatic PE was responsible for the fire protection services in this project. PPE provided comprehensive engineering and design services that facilitated the installation of a complete wet-pipe automatic fire sprinkler system by a team of volunteers. The expertly engineered fire sprinkler systems were installed in critical areas, including:

• The dome and church attic

• Concealed spaces of the east and west upper mezzanine

• The basement, 1st floor, and 2nd floor

• Crawl spaces

• The bell tower

• Fire pump room

To ensure precision and efficiency, Pragmatic PE conducted thorough site research before producing 2D and 3D sprinkler system designs using AutoSPRINK and Revit. The full range of services included design services for the new fire sprinkler system, a City of San Francisco permit submittal package, coordination, shop drawings, and a fabrication list.