Agenda

Pennsylvania State University commissioned Allied Works to design a new home for the Palmer Museum of Art. Clad in locally sourced sandstone panels, the new facility divides the museum’s large collection  across several staggered volumes that take advantage of its hilly site. Nathan Hamilton, associate principal at Allied Works, will share how the building balances opacity and transparency, highlighting its use of custom metal shade screens.

Nathan Hamilton

Associate Principal

Allied Works

Nathan Hamilton

Associate Principal

Allied Works

Nathan Hamilton has been with Allied Works for more than 15 years, serving as the project architect for major works in North America and overseas. He has a depth of experience with diverse building types, material systems, and sustainable design strategies and is a leader and mentor for the firm. His detailing acumen, technical knowledge, and expert on-site construction supervision have been instrumental to the execution of numerous distinctive arts, civic, and workspace projects.

Architects and designers are increasingly seizing the opportunity to renovate and reclad existing buildings as a sustainable alternative to demolition and reconstruction by considering the existing structure as an asset to keep total embodied carbon to a minimum. This session will explore how updating the building’s envelope while retaining much of the original structure can establish a new identity in an innovative and thoughtful way. A key element of the renovation was the reconfiguration of the Pennsylvania Ave Façade – by replacing the Newseum’s predominately glass façade with a stately Tennessee Marble façade – the new building reestablishes its connection to the many prominent stone buildings on Pennsylvania Ave. Joined by the Structural Engineer and the head of the Tennessee Marble Quarry, this panel will discuss how selective exterior construction, and interior reconfiguration turned the renowned museum into a vibrant academic center for Johns Hopkins University.

Kate Kulpa

Associate Principal

Ennead Architects

Kate Kulpa

Associate Principal

Ennead Architects

Kathleen Kulpa AIA is an Associate Principal at Ennead Architects and a specialist in exterior façade design and curtainwall consulting. Her technical expertise has been integral to the development of many of Ennead’s large-scale projects from concept through construction, working across all typologies.

Billy Erhard

Designer

Ennead

Billy Erhard

Designer

Ennead

Billy is a Senior Associate and Project Designer at Ennead Architects. His work experience is split between designing cultural spaces for performing, visual, and interpretive arts and educational facilities for higher education, laboratories, and K-12 projects. Billy believes that thoughtful design can be a catalyst to allow new forms of artistic expression to emerge, make art more accessible to audiences of all kinds, and focus educational programs to be inherently collaborative and interdisciplinary.

Dan Sesil

Partner

LERA

Dan Sesil

Partner

LERA

Daniel A. Sesil, P.E., C.E., S.E., P.Eng. is a Partner at LERA Consulting Structural Engineers. With the firm since 1983, his extensive expertise lives in special design projects that answer to function and innovation. He specializes in long span, column-free spaces, high-rise buildings, creative solutions and research initiatives. He has also led several major forensic investigation projects domestically and internationally. Dan is currently Partner-in-Charge of a wide range of high-profile, sensitive and complex projects, He also leads LERA’s structural design efforts for Global Building Modules (GBM), a steel-framed modular system, inspired by shipping containers, whose scale and design allows for efficient transportation and offers a potential solution to high-cost housing, and led designs for NYC HPD’s new modular affordable housing development at 581 Grant Ave in Brooklyn, NY

Monica Gawet

President/Owner

Tennessee Marble Company

Monica Gawet

President/Owner

Tennessee Marble Company

Monica is President of Tennessee Marble Company which was founded in 1993. She is a third-generation family member in the stone business, and is the sole owner of the Company. Tennessee Marble Company is a quarrier of Tennessee pink marble and operates 3 quarries in Tennessee. The Company also owns and operates the historic Champlain black quarry in Isle LaMotte, Vermont. . In 2007, the company acquired another Tennessee marble operation, making them the sole supplier of Tennessee pink marble. In addition to being a quarrier, the company has produced hundreds of custom, commercial projects, both large and small using other domestic stone varieties. Their work is very custom in nature, where projects are cut to specific specifications. The commercial work ranges from small historic match existing work, to larger commercial exterior marble facades. There are over 2000 buildings in the U.S that have Tennessee marble in them.

Façade+Envelope has been contacted to either assess the failures or inspect the reinstallation of failed (falling) exterior vertical adhered Ceramic Tiles. Projects range from small format to large format tiles. The types of failures observed are typically linked to improper installation. This presentation will go through the general installation requirements specified in ANSI (American National Standards Institute) and TCNA (Tile Council of North America) and include possible quality control procedures.

Manuel Morales

Founding Principal

Facade+Envelope

Manuel Morales

Founding Principal

Facade+Envelope

As the Founding Principal of Facade+Envelope, a consulting firm that specializes in the entire building envelope, I lead a team of engineers and specialists with decades of experience. I am a Professional Engineer registered in Florida and New York, with over 20 years of building envelope experience. Our goal is to ensure that people Live, Work, Learn and Play better by improving the design and construction of the Built Environment. My core competencies include consulting, inspections, testing, and structural design of façades, cladding, roofing, and waterproofing systems. I have extensive experience in structural analysis and design of curtainwalls, fixed and operable windows, sliding glass doors, and railings. I also have a strong background in building forensics, moisture resistance design, and building code compliance.

Touzet Studio Founding Principals Jacqueline Gonzalez Touzet and Carlos Prio-Touzet explore the potential of terracotta as a resilient, low-carbon alternative to conventional cladding systems. With inherent flood resistance, long-term color durability, and passive performance benefits, terracotta is particularly well-suited for subtropical climates. This session shares lessons from a recent adaptive reuse case study which won AIA Florida 2024 and AIA Miami2024 Design Excellence awards, along with new proposals and prototyping efforts that reimagine terracotta as both rainscreen and part of stormwater cladding—offering a future-ready approach to façade design in a changing climate.

Jacqueline Gonzalez Touzet

Founding Principal

Touzet Studio

Jacqueline Gonzalez Touzet

Founding Principal

Touzet Studio

Jacqueline has a reputation for strong design and professional leadership in architecture, master planning and interior design. Her approach to each design is based on a rigorous understanding of the people, the climate, the culture, and the history of a place. She has been recognized for her design leadership throughout her career – as Miami AIA’s Young Architect of the Year and Architect of the Year. A champion for preparing the community for coastal resilience and designing a livable and sustainable future, she is the Chair of the Resiliency Committee for the Board of MRED (University of Miami School of Real Estate, Development and Urbanism), a Trustee for History Miami Museum, an AIA advisor to the Sea Level Rise committee, and a frequent guest critic at University of Miami. She has designed award-winning mixed use projects in Asia, Europe and in the USA.