Catalyst Omaha

Award Winner ACEC 2025 Engineering Excellence Awards Structural Systems

The Catalyst Omaha project transformed a century-old steel manufacturing plant into a 170,000-square-foot innovation hub supporting healthcare, technology, and entrepreneurship. Designed as a centerpiece of Omaha’s emerging EDGE District, the adaptive reuse preserves the character of the historic Omaha Steel Works while introducing modern spaces for collaboration and growth.

TD2 served as the structural engineer of record, reimagining the existing industrial framework to support new program demands. The design integrated two new interior floors within the original building shell and included multiple additions, all while maintaining and exposing key elements of the historic steel structure. Existing columns, beams, and trusses were evaluated and reused where possible, reducing material consumption and preserving the building’s industrial identity.

The project required careful coordination of new and existing systems, including the introduction of modern lateral load-resisting elements and reinforcement of existing foundations to support increased loads. Advanced field verification techniques, including 3D scanning, were used to align new construction with the irregular geometry of the historic structure.

Today, Catalyst Omaha stands as a model for adaptive reuse—blending engineering ingenuity, sustainability, and historic preservation to create a flexible, future-ready environment for innovation and community engagement.

Photography by Corey Gaffer