Yates Pavilion

This new gymnasium provides two full sized basketball and volleyball courts for practice or a single new competition court for volleyball and basketball games. 800 spectators are accommodated, which also allows the entire school population to comfortably congregate in one room, which was previously not possible. New lockers, restrooms and a concession area are also part or the overall project.

The project capitalized on tilt-up construction in many ways. Relative to concrete masonry, the timing for the construction would have required significant winter conditions expenses. At the Yates Pavilion, the slab was constructed in the short window of time before cold weather set in. The tilt-up wall panels were then cast and erected without incurring the tenting and heating expense associated with masonry. The panels also were erected more quickly than masonry could have been, allowing for the building to be enclosed sooner, and eliminating yet more winter condition expenses by providing a dry, secure working environment for finish trade subcontractors.

A steel frame structural system was considered but ruled out because initial costs of a steel frame and stud infill wall to enclose the gym were greater than tilt-up construction. Additionally, after building a steel frame with stud infill construction, subsequent construction would have been necessary to provide finished interior and exterior surfaces, which still wouldn't have had the inherent durability of the tilt-up wall panels. Tilt-up concrete's robust interior surface is critical to a typical gymnasium environment.

The customized relief pattern utilized typical tilt-up concrete techniques in new ways to cost effectively create visual interest in the large, opaque expanses of concrete. The project achieved a highly customized, dynamic appearance with a relatively small cost impact.

LEED Gold certification is an important goal of the project and the tilt-up concrete panels contributed to many LEED points.