Developers renovating a nine-story vintage office tower in West Hollywood are banking on a blockbuster hit with well-appointed luxury residences and townhomes.

(photo courtesy Jonathan Segal)

SEATTLE, Washington -- There are significant changes coming with the new International Building Code (IBC 2018/ASCE 7-16), specifically seismic design load requirements for buildings in high seismic regions.

“While typical building code cycles see maybe 5% to 20% change, the new changes—for some extreme cases—will increase up to 80%,” said Tom Xia, PhD, DCI Engineers Principal, Technical Director and member of the ASCE and Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). “That is not a minor change.”

We faithfully board airplanes with the full confidence they will operate and fly us to our destinations safely. We go about our day-to-day routines in built environments the same way. We assume structural safety is built into the places we enter - offices, homes, stores, entertainment venues, and public spaces. While the framing, connections, wall and floor systems are mostly concealed underneath the building’s finishes, those elements have been designed to provide us with that confidence in the safety of our spaces.

At DCI, we know that our designs would not be a reality without the force that is the men and women in construction.  We are constantly pushing the envelope on design and these men and women make it come alive. They are the ones that make it happen.

We dedicate this month of giving to all of you. Thank you for all that you give. #DCIgive #warmth

When a developer decides to excavate a site at or near the property lines, he or she might need a soil shoring solution in order to support the excavation and protect the adjacent properties. To determine the best solution, the developer usually huddles with key project members such as the general contractor, architect, structural engineer, geotechnical engineer, local jurisdictions, etc. The team will bring up all the shoring options based on the developer’s budget, the site’s adjacent property, and building situation.

A developer weighing whether to pull the trigger on building a high-rise hotel or condominium project has to consider a myriad of factors. Is the market for their product ripe? Are interest rates advantageous? Does the project pencil out financially?

Revit has quickly risen to prominence as a tool of collaboration in the A/E/C industry. DCI BIM Coordinator Tom Whitehead has been tasked with implementing DCI's long used and deeply customized AutoCAD program and standards into Revit. Recently he attended the ‘invite only’ Revit Gunslinger event in New Hampshire. As one of only forty Revit users invited to this event; it's safe to say that Tom Whitehead is a bona fide gunslinger of the Wild Wild Revit West. We sat down with Tom to get a look into his history with Revit and to have a peek into the future of BIM.