The Thrangu Tara Abbey Monastery for Buddhist nuns is located in Swayambunath, a very special spiritual place that is home to the famous Swayambu Stupa and many monasteries and temples. The monastery and two surrounding hostel blocks were not originally built according to proper standards, resulting in significant damage from the April 2015 earthquake. The damage included severe cracks covering all three buildings and failure in many columns and beams. Miyamoto conducted a detailed structural assessment of the building to develop a solution that would allow for the preservation of the unique and important architectural features of the monastery. Miyamoto’s retrofit design included column concrete jacketing and shear walls to ensure that the monastery would exceed seismic standards and be safe for re-entry. A haunched beam was also implemented to protect the sacred Buddha within the monastery from being damaged in the case of a future earthquake.

Additionally, Miyamoto is providing the project management for the retrofitting of the monastery. Miyamoto is implementing lean construction technology in order to optimize the budget, control the schedule, and deliver a high quality of work. Material testing is being performed at an onsite laboratory to check the strength and quality of the building and an onsite engineer is supervising the construction of the project to ensure its success.