IBA Consultants, a building envelope consulting firm, is celebrating its 25th anniversary of business. The firm specializes in the identification and elimination of potential and existing building envelope deficiencies stemming from waterproofing, glass and glazing, wall cladding and roofing issues.
“When we opened our first Florida office in 1996, building envelope consulting was in its infancy; it was assumed that buildings would inherently have some leakage given the previous building design practices, and the goal was just to minimize building envelope deficiencies as much as possible,” says Mark Baker, president and CEO. “I was and am still passionate about how we could change that mindset! Today, the industry that we helped launch has grown dramatically. The use of services like ours is essential, leading the developer’s understanding and expectations to a building that doesn’t fail and will not leak.”
Since opening its first office in Miami, Florida in 1996, IBA has consulted on more than 7,500 buildings, including high-rise condominium towers like Brickell City Centre in Miami, hotels and resorts like the Atlantis in The Bahamas and the Hyatt Times Square in New York City, and office skyscrapers such as the Petronus Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur and Torre Mayor in Mexico City. The firm also has consulted on special-use buildings like performing arts centers, airport terminals and hospitals.
Initially, IBA focused on new construction projects located in Miami and along Florida’s Atlantic Coast; however, the company quickly earned a reputation for solving severe weather and hurricane resistance issues and expanded regionally, nationally and internationally. IBA’s second office was opened in Tampa Bay in 1999, followed by office openings in Las Vegas in 2004, Seattle in 2006, New York City in 2007 and, most recently, in Salt Lake City last year.
Along the way, IBA created new specialty divisions such as investigative and forensic services to identify and correct existing building failures, certified building inspection services to speed up permitting, hurricane resistant design engineering, and building commissioning services.
Currently, IBA Consultants is working on projects throughout North and South America, including the massive Tampa Bay Water Street urban redevelopment project; the new Mayflower Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah; the Virgin Cruise terminal in Miami and the Hard Rock Hotel-48th Street in New York City.
