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Project

Reserve at Gwynedd

Living their best lives: A 55-plus residential community receives building envelope and code compliance assessments to keep both the structures and residents healthy.

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Project Details

Owner
The Reserve at Gwynedd
Location
Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania
Completion Date
Number of Stories
3 to 4
Number of Units/Apartments
176
Aerial of the Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.
Aerial of the Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. Google Earth
Typical three-story front of garden homes at Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.
Typical three-story front of garden homes at Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. Thornton Tomasetti
Typical three-story rear of garden homes at Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.
Typical three-story rear of garden homes at Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. Thornton Tomasetti
Typical four-story front of garden homes at Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.
Typical four-story front of garden homes at Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. Thornton Tomasetti
Typical four-story rear of garden homes at Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.
Typical four-story rear of garden homes at Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. Thornton Tomasetti
Infrared survey of the Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.
Infrared survey of the Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. Thornton Tomasetti
Thornton Tomasetti team members survey the Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania via lift.
Thornton Tomasetti team members survey the Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania via lift. Thornton Tomasetti
Thornton Tomasetti team members survey the Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania via lift..
Thornton Tomasetti team members survey the Reserve at Gwynedd in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania via lift. Thornton Tomasetti

Overview

The Reserve at Gwynedd is a 55-plus community consisting of single-family homes, duplexes and six multi-story residential buildings also known as garden homes. In recent years, problems with the garden homes’ envelopes prompted the condominium association to seek architectural and engineering expertise to uncover the sources of these deficiencies and provide recommendations for remediation.

Our Renewal team provided building envelope assessments and building code consulting services for the project. Ranging from three to four stories and offering a total of 176 units, the wood-framed garden homes feature enclosed parking below and are clad with a mixture of vinyl siding, concrete veneer stone and foam plastic trim. The roofs are sheathed with either standing seam metal roofing or fiberglass shingles.

Highlights

  • We provided building envelope assessments for all of the garden homes, including individual reviews of each of the 126 garden home balconies.
  • We compared as-built conditions with permitted construction documents and code requirements applicable at the time of construction.
  • The scope of our work included a review of the original design details for conformance with industry standard construction practices.
  • We provided provision-of-repair recommendations for all deficient conditions encountered.
  • Beyond basic visual and tactile observations, our investigations involved the use of infrared surveys, lift vehicles and invasive probes.