Architect Bernard Maybeck’s First Church of Christ Scientist - Berkeley, CA

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Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as a National Treasure, the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Berkeley is widely regarded as architect Bernard Maybeck’s masterpiece—a landmark of the American Arts and Crafts movement and one of the most architecturally significant buildings in the United States. Constructed in 1910, the church embodies Maybeck’s visionary synthesis of structure, form, and material, blending timber, concrete, and glass in a way that feels both monumental and intimate.

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This project marked a milestone in Treeline Construction’s evolution as a historic preservation contractor. Serving as the prime contractor, our team self-performed the seismic retrofit of the church’s four primary interior concrete piers—structural elements central to both the building’s stability and its original mechanical airflow system. Preserving that dual function required precision, restraint, and creativity.

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Working closely with Architectural Resources Group (ARG) and Degenkolb Engineers, we installed full-height vertical steel soldier beams through the roof and columns, reinforced critical timber-steel-concrete connections, and constructed two shotcrete shear walls to resist East-West seismic forces from the Hayward Fault. The project also included a complete roof replacement and ADA compliance upgrades, all executed with the utmost respect for Maybeck’s design intent and material palette.

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The success of this work helped shape Treeline’s philosophy toward preservation—balancing innovation with reverence, and treating every historic structure as both a technical challenge and a work of art deserving of care.