Bezek Durst Seiser architects and planners: Roof technology Group renovates Alaska.

• Author: Bohi, Heidi
• Position: BUILDING ALASKA

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When Mark Begich first became Mayor of Anchorage, from his northwest corner office on the eighth floor of City Hall overlooking downtown, he noticed something quite out of the ordinary: a tree was growing right through the middle of the roof of the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. As a former property developer, commercial realtor and an adept handyman himself, his instincts told him the foliage was more than a little gift from Mother Nature.

He was right. Turns out that while the style of roof on the 1980s building would have been perfect for a concert hall in another climate, 20 years of moisture from Anchorage's constant freezing and thawing conditions had slowly transformed the underlying insulation and surface into a living ecosystem. The small tree was a sign of possible damage and indicative of more serious problems that could not be seen by the naked eye. In the end, the roof on the multi-million dollar facility was completely replaced.

ROOF TECHNOLOGY GROUP

It is the prevention and correction of roofing problems like these that makes the Roof Technology Group in Anchorage the most well known team of roofing specialists in the state. (The group helped the municipality investigate the ACPA roof problem and develop a budget for coming up with a corrective solution.) A division of the three-man architecture firm Bezek Durst Seiser, led by group manager John Stadum, RTG has almost 20 years experience specializing in improving commercial roof and exterior thermal envelope design where architects and owners have a much higher incidence of problems than with other parts of a building. The group has a portfolio of more than 400 successful roof design and correction projects statewide, including the State of Alaska, Municipality of Anchorage, school districts, universities and many other owners maintaining facilities across the state.

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EXTREME CLIMATE

In Alaska, with its varied and extreme climate conditions, roof design involves challenges that can easily be overlooked. In fact, of all manmade infrastructures in Alaska, when it comes to taking abuse, roofs are only second to roads. It is these unique factors that come with an Arctic climate that prompted the firm to invest in this area of specialization, Dan Seiser, AIA, LEED AP, and a principal architect for the firm says. Seismic activity, high winds, extreme temperatures--Fairbanks alone has a 150-degree temperature variance between...