Designed by Gio Ponti, the North Building opened in 1971. The castle-like exterior represents the building’s function of protecting the museum’s artwork. The facade is clad in glass tiles that Ponti chose to reflect the light and sky...
Hobbs Brook Management wanted to renovate their 1989 office building at 81 Wyman Street and undertook a project to replace the exterior cladding and alter the interior of the three-story structure. SGH provided structural and building enclosure...
The Physical Education (PG) Building comprises the 1980 gymnasium wing and the 1981 natatorium wing. SGH investigated several issues with the building’s exterior walls, windows, and roofs. We subsequently designed a building enclosure...
Menorah Home and Hospital wanted to update the appearance of their existing facility and improve the performance of the exterior wall system. They undertook a project to overclad the existing brick and concrete masonry facade with a new...
Completed in 1917, the Little Building is a twelve-story structure at 80 Boylston Street, facing historic Boston Common. The building housed a variety of businesses over the years, until Emerson College bought it in 1995. The existing cast stone...
The exterior cladding at this two-story office building was deteriorating and occupants were reporting water leakage. The property manager wanted to repair the facade. SGH investigated the condition of the cementitious fiberboard wall panels and...
Atlantic Wharf (formerly Russia Wharf) combines residential, retail, and office space in one Fort Point Channel location. The project involved integrating three historic, low-rise buildings with a new mixed-use office tower. With this design, the...
Completed in 1990, the Suffolk County House of Correction (HOC) consists of eight buildings ranging in height from three to fifteen stories. HOC personnel observed water leaking into the buildings. SGH investigated the causes of leakage, designed...
The office building at 1800 K Street NW was reinvented and modernized with new facades, rooftop amenity space, expanded floor areas for several levels, and other interior upgrades. The work was phased to accommodate tenants remaining in the...
The two buildings at 12670 and 12680 High Bluff Drive offer Class A office space to the Del Mar Heights area. The project included constructing a new building at 12670 and recladding the existing building at 12680. The new facades create...
Building façades require upkeep and repair over time. These repairs can often be costly and disruptive to operations and occupants. Overcladding is one method that can be implemented to renew or upgrade the exterior façade while allowing the...
Large rooftop mechanical equipment, such as air handling units (AHU), can be an important component of a building’s exterior envelope. However, it is critical that the skin of this equipment be designed or constructed with principles...
SGH's Payal R. Vora and Jeffrey A. Bowlsby published a paper in the ASTM E06 Selected Technical Papers 1549. The paper, titled “The High Costs of Minimum Quality Cement Plaster (Stucco) Assemblies: A Performance Case Study...
Abstract: Some modern architectural designs use new materials and metal panel assemblies for roofing applications, many of which are not intended to be used as roofing and , therefore, may not be well-suited for it. One such trend is the use...
Abstract: Architects designing exterior envelopes - including the walls and roofing assembly - are expected to produce building envelope designs that meet myriad criteria. This article reviews the different criteria and their interdependence and...
Abstract: Upgrades of United States energy codes recently attracted attention to the finicky "continuity" details between air and water barriers in facade construction. A typical construction detail on a new project that contains rain-...
Abstract: When a building leaks, the design, workmanship and material of the building envelope are all suspect. The exterior walls, roofing, windows, doors, balcony decks and below-grade...
Also published in ASTM STP-1498: Condensation in Exterior Building Wall Systems
Many condensation problems at fenestration are related to the adjacent building components the system interacts with. This includes adjacent cladding...
Design of dimensional stone veneer is a straightforward process when the stone sizes are similar, utilize the same material and are connected to an appropriately framed structural backup. However, if stone panels of different sizes and shapes are...