Photo Courtesy: Radius Track
Rancho Monte Alegre
McClure is proud to have received First Place in the Residential/Hospitality category at the 2025 Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI) Design Excellence Awards for our work on Rancho Monte Alegre in Carpinteria, California.
McClure served as the Cold-Formed Steel Specialty Engineer for this modernist residence featuring a striking curved façade. The project featured a unique façade made of doubly curved cold-formed steel (CFS) panels. To meet the complex geometry, McClure engineered custom laser-cut tabbed box assemblies that formed non-standard parallelogram cross-sections with changing member depths along the section. These assemblies were cut from flat plates with tabs, that align naturally when fastened, creating self-jigging complex curved shapes. Structural challenges included varying stud depths, unconventional wall angles, and the need for minimizing movement joints to preserve the seamless look. In one area, CFS was adapted to carry unexpected stair loads by integrating a custom box beam between steel columns.
Rancho Monte Alegre is a testament to cold-formed steel’s adaptability, proving that even the most complex curves can be engineered with precision and elegance.
About McClure
Founded in 1956, McClure has grown to a firm of over 280 professionals in fourteen offices. With a vision of making lives better, McClure brings engineering and development expertise with a collaborative approach to identify the best strategies and solutions to bring our client’s vision to life. We look at every project through the lens of economics by thinking, designing, and building for the future. McClure’s expertise is in guiding clients on making long-term capital investments in the areas of aviation, bridge, community development, construction observation, development, environmental and stormwater, landscape architecture, structural, survey, traffic and safety, transportation, wastewater, and water.