At the culmination of the PRESSS (Precast Seismic Structural Systems) research program, a 60 percent scale five-story precast/prestressed concrete building will be tested under simulated seismic loading. This paper describes the prototype buildings used for design and the structura l features of the test building. The buildings were designed using the direct displacement based approach, which is able to take advantage of the unique properties of precast/prestressed concrete using dry jointed construction. The test building incorporates four different seismic frame systems in one direction, and a jointed shear wall system in the orthogonal direction. Pretopped double tees are used on three floors, while the other two floors are constructed using topped hollow-core slabs. A major objective of the test program is to develop design guidelines for precast/prestressed concrete seismic systems that are appropriate for use in various seismic zones. These design guidelines can then be incorporated into the appropriate building codes.
