Morabito Consultants provided structural engineering services for South Haven Street Extra Space Storage, a six-story, 109,842-square-foot self-storage facility in Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood. The project combined new multi-story storage construction with the preservation and integration of exterior brick walls from a historic 1912 electrical substation.
This adaptive reuse approach required a thoughtful structural design to stabilize and support the retained south and west masonry walls while integrating them into the new building framework. The result preserves historic neighborhood character while delivering a modern, climate-controlled self-storage facility.
The new structure is supported by a reinforced concrete mat foundation, with supplemental spread footings and slab-on-grade construction in select areas. The superstructure consists of lightweight concrete slabs on metal deck supported by light-gauge metal stud interior and exterior bearing walls, with wide-flange steel beams and columns used for transfer framing where bearing walls do not align.
Roof framing consists of metal deck supported by light-gauge bearing walls, and lateral stability is provided through a combination of masonry and light-gauge metal stud shear walls. During construction, Morabito Consultants also designed temporary shoring systems to stabilize the existing historic masonry walls and provided foundation redesign services to accommodate updated structural systems and loading conditions.
The completed facility successfully blends historic preservation with modern self-storage structural design, creating a distinctive commercial storage building that fits the scale and character of Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood.