DCI Engineers was named Engineer of the Year by The Daily Journal of Commerce in their list of 2018 Newsmakers. The Newsmakers were honored during an awards event on March 28. Congratulations to our Portland office! To see the other winners and read more, click here (DCI is featured on page 5).

Our Portland office has seen their fair share of historic adaptive reuse projects. This post focuses on two specific projects completed in the city’s Old Town/Chinatown District, and another in the Central Eastside neighborhood. Each building has its own revival story and collection of before-and-after photos.

Cross-laminated timber is a hot topic in the A/E/C industries. Its strength could make wooden skyscrapers a reality. Its simplicity makes for incredibly quick construction.

A dynamic skyline with its glistening crystalline towers is often the image used to define a city, but what gives a city its unique character is its historic buildings. Unfortunately, far too often these structures remain abandoned or torn down. A large part of the problem is bringing these structures up to modern building code standards, which is often a daunting task few developers are willing to undertake.

Happy Holidays from all of us at DCI Engineers. We are thankful for the friends, family and colleagues who have made this a great year for all of us at DCI. In honor of that, we've put together a video message of kindness that we hope you enjoy. Please help us spread kindness with our Pay It Forward Campaign and win an iPad mini! All you need to do is visit our Facebook page and we will make a donation on your behalf AND enter you into a contest!

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.

We sat down with our October DCI Expert in the Spotlight, Richard “Dick” Hemmen for a Q&A session about Seismic Renovations and Tenant Improvements. Hemmen, who has worked on many seismic renovations and TI’s, shares with us the importance of maintaining a buildings structural components for the occurrence of a seismic event.

Expert Bio

On Baja California’s southernmost tip, a granite mountain crashes into the Pacific Ocean. This is the site for the majestic Grand Solmar Land’s End Resort and Spa, located in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. From the magnificent ocean side infinity pools to the breathtaking ocean views, this entire development feels like an oasis. Building such a luxurious facility presented some unique and stimulating challenges.   

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Clients, and Employees:

As our annual charity golf tournament is fast approaching and we are experiencing the beautiful summer weather in Seattle, it would seem an appropriate time to use a golf analogy to discuss the recent success at DCI. On the golf course I am always trying, (and rarely succeeding) to make birdies and achieve a great score. Unlike my golf game, as the President of DCI Engineers I am seeing success is all around me. 

When you think of modular construction, you might think of boring repetition and lack of originality. However, with stimulated interest over the last five years, modular construction is making a name for itself in the A/E/C world, allowing for unique and cost-effective structures to be built. As a resourceful and efficient off-site method to constructing code compliant buildings, we asked our Principal and resident modular guru, Troy Bean about this construction type. 

What is Wood Framed Modular Construction?