Automobile and Embarcadero Buildings

Allana Buick & Bers (ABB) was retained by the City of Dallas to provide building enclosure condition and assessment reporting, design, and construction support services for the Automobile and Embarcadero Buildings at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas.

The Automobile Building began as the Varied Industries Building in 1936, but it was destroyed by fire in 1942. The new building was constructed in 1947 and was remodeled in 1985-1986 to resemble the original structure of the building and to restore the porticos to match the Centennial Building on the other side of the Esplanade. In 1999, the exterior was repainted and the Art Deco murals representing electric, mining, and inventing industries were restored.

ABB assessed the Automobile Building by providing HVAC system review, investigation of the dehumidification conditions that affected a previously installed smoke detector system, and design services for the roof replacement project.

At the Embarcadero Building, ABB conducted identification of the current systems and then provided recommendation services for the correction of a chronic leak condition. Along with this, ABB provided an overall roof and roof top HVAC equipment assessment to ensure that these systems were functioning properly.

Following the initial assessment phase, City of Dallas requested ABB provide design and construction support services for roof replacement of the multi-ply modified bitumen roof systems on these two historical buildings. ABB continues to provide construction support services during the construction of the new roof on the Automobile and Embarcadero Buildings at this time.