As wall types have become more complex and energy efficiency standards more stringent, the need for effective barriers against air and water penetration is more important than ever. Han Ling from Henry Company explained this imperative in Superstructures’ latest continuing-education seminar presented in our classroom on June 19. His talk was a primer on the functions and interactions of various kinds of barriers, plus some surprising revelations.

Garage owners—whether in New York City or the Empire State in general—know that free parking is only a thing in Monopoly. All the more reason to inspect and maintain these revenue centers—especially now that they’ll be subject to new inspection requirements. Our advice based on SUPERSTRUCTURES’ years of experience with parking garages: be proactive in getting your garage inspected and repaired. File a clean report and avoid compliance headaches when demand is high.

No, it’s not political gossip. We mean an actual leak, as in water infiltrating New York’s historic City Hall. Two active leaks were affecting the building’s offices of the Public Design Commission: one around a chimney, and one around a skylight in a hallway. SUPERSTRUCTURES prescribed remedies for both.

In 2011, SUPERSTRUCTURES addressed the rehabilitation of roofs and wooden porches on 23 stately 19th century brick and wood-framed former officers’ quarters in the historic Nolan Park and Colonels Row sections of Governors Island.

SUPERSTRUCTURES is excited to launch the second season of the Frost Jacking Day Tracker. "Frost jacking" is what happens when freezing temperatures cause rain or snow to turn to ice and expand cracks in a facade. As cycles of freezing and thawing accumulate, the cracks continue to grow and exterior hazardous conditions or interior water damage or leaks can occur.

SUPERSTRUCTURES is delighted to announce that once again one of our projects is being honored by the New York Landmarks Conservancy with a Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award – for the tenth time! The award will be presented on April 23rd in recognition of the exterior restoration of George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in downtown Brooklyn.

SUPERSTRUCTURES recently completed the design of 10 public school exterior restoration projects for the School Construction Authority in a remarkable 18 weeks. Projects included masonry restoration, window replacement, and roofs; and totaled close to $75 million in construction costs.

Thank you Habitat – once again you’ve covered a topic on which we feel impelled to respond. Your 10/10/18 article “Lax Oversight Leads to a Facade Fiasco” stresses the importance of architect involvement during the construction phase, and quotes the architect on the project profiled: “it’s equally important – and sometimes even more important – for us to be heavily involved and see the project through the construction phase as it is for us to design it.” From our perspective that’s an inversion of priorities.

At SUPERSTRUCTURES we relentlessly seek out and apply the latest proven materials, methods and information technologies on behalf of our clients and projects. Case in point - we never want to be surprised by a problem while we’re standing on a rig with the contractor midway through a project. An early, thorough investigation of a problem’s nature and extent ultimately saves time and money.

Attention NYC Building Owners and Managers: We are pleased to announce that SUPERSTRUCTURES Principal, Vikrant Sampat, PE, will be a presenter at The Cooperator Expo New York on October 11, 2018.