For over twenty-five years, James R. Gainfort AIA Consulting Architects PC (JRGAIA) has provided architectural and consulting services in the specialized field of building exteriors. Our areas of expertise extend to roofing, masonry facades, fenestration systems, and plaza and foundation waterproofing.
Much of our work involves the forensic evaluation and restoration of institutional buildings (museums, performing arts centers, schools and churches) along with selected commercial and residential projects. Our evaluations often include the diagnosis of water-related failures, as well as the control of enclosure factors such as material performance, building movement, heat, air, moisture vapor and noise. Control of moisture vapor generated by the relatively high relative humidity levels demanded within museum and gallery spaces offers special challenges, particularly where existing building envelopes are being renovated. JRGAIA applies the lessons learned from existing building studies to the design of new exterior enclosure systems.
The size and scope of our work varies from project to project. Small projects, such as the restoration of the original Carnegie Mansion’s Conservatory at the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York, are nevertheless demanding and require close attention to detail and restoration techniques. At the other extreme, the replacement and renovation of the entire roof and skylight array coupled with the restoration of exterior walls at the Brooklyn Museum of Art was a massive effort requiring almost seven years to complete.
Current and recently completed consulting projects include the expansion of the Clark Art Museum in Williamstown, MA, the Dwight-Englewood School STeM building in Englewood, NJ, the Culture Shed project at Hudson Yards in New York City, high-rise apartment houses at 124 West 23rd Street and 211 East 13th Street in New York City, and a host of townhouses and single-family residences in NYC, the Hamptons, and Palm Beach, FL.
Past projects of note include the 2008 plaza waterproofing and insulation systems across the plaza and fountain areas at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and the 2008-2009 quality assurance oversight during the restorations of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. It was included in the 2009 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award from the Preservation League of New York State. We also completed the restoration and renovation of the roofs of New York’s Plaza Hotel, for which JRGAIA was awarded the 2008 North American Copper in Architecture Award for Historic Restoration by the Copper Development Association.
Our office produces drawings using AutoCad 2014. We also routinely utilize MS Office (2010) programs Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access as part of day-to-day operations. We also use Adobe Acrobat 9 and Bluebeam Revu, as well as Quark to produce finished documents. Technical software used as part of our analytical efforts includes Laurence Berkeley Lab’s “THERM/WINDOW/OPTICS” package and Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s “WUFI Pro 5.3” software (a joint venture with Fraunhofer Institut Bauphysik).
Our field work often requires the use of specific forensic tools to verify actual building conditions and performance. We maintain in-house capability in both infrared thermography and air infiltration (blower door) testing.
JRGAIA is a corporation employing seven persons and is located at 104 West 27th Street in New York City. The company carries $2 million in general liability insurance as well as New York State Worker’s Compensation for all employees. James Gainfort, the firm’s president, carries $2 million in professional liability insurance.
