 The strength of the building is twice what it was in Spain, with the stones supporting their own weight as designed, augmented by a framework of steel and concrete to hold them together when the California ground shakes. Contractor Phil Sunseri said that the building foundation was earthquake resistant as well; with a three-foot-thick (1 m) mat of concrete and steel underneath, "the entire building will move as one unit." When completed, the building will be the largest example of original Cistercian Gothic architecture in the Western Hemisphere, and the oldest building in America west of the Rocky Mountains.
