WestCon Tribune

 

Tom Butt, FAIA, is an architect, general contractor and charter member of WESTCON. He is founder and president of Interactive Resources, an architecture and engineering firm that has practiced diagnostic and forensic architecture and engineering for over two decades.

 

Mr. Butt will present two recent projects involving massive stucco failures on two public buildings. One project is the City of Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, and the other is the City of Albany Library and Community Center. Both failures are the result of a combination of design errors and construction defects.

 

There will also be a general discussion of the principals of stucco system design and water management in stucco-clad wall systems. Some highlights involve weather resistive barriers, stucco lathing accessories, admixtures and modifiers, penetration flashings and architectural detailing.

 

Mr Butt is a member of ASTM Committee E6, which includes several subcommittees and task groups involved in building envelope standards. He will have just returned from the E6 Committee Week in Norfolk, VA and will also report on recent activities involving building envelope standards related to stucco design and construction, including weather resistive barriers.

 

Interactive Resources is a multidisciplinary architecture and engineering firm that was founded in 1973 in Point Richmond, California.

The name “Interactive Resources” was originally conceived to describe the company’s goal of bringing together several design disciplines to better integrate the architecture and engineering professions. Interactive Resources has achieved this objective with an in-house staff of architects, structural and civil engineers, and planners. Interactive Resources specializes  in building evaluations and the investigation and repair of construction deficiencies and building failures.