Premix USA Manufacturing

Summarize the project's program, features and achievements?

Premix USA Manufacturing is a 64,153 SF new facility featuring a main manufacturing area with 60' clear height and multiple thickened slab areas for equipment. The perimeter walls include a combination of tilt-up panels and metal stud framing. On each side of the building there are bump-out areas constructed from tilt-up panels for shipping & receiving loading docks. The front of the building is comprised of a 14,700 SF bump-out to house utilities and offices. The office area includes angled tilt-up panels with a combination of formliner and post-installed aluminum siding. This building marks the first United States facility for Finland-based plastics manufacturer Premix Group which produces electrically conductive and static dissipative plastic compounds.

What obstacles were overcome related to the schedule, budget, program, specification, site, etc. on this project?

Construction of the building shell commenced while manufacturing equipment design and locations were still being finalized. This impacted the final design and installation of the building's slab-on-grade. To achieve the construction timeline for the project, the building's structural steel and tilt-up panels were installed prior to the slab-on-grade being poured. Without the slab-on-grade constructed, all tilt-up panels had to be formed & placed on temporary casting beds. Prior to panel installation, the main steel structure for the building was erected resulting in a 2 line crane with 2 sets of rigging being used to erect the panels.

Please communicate any engineering complexities or unique features of the panel design for this project?

The steel structure being in place and the slab-on-grade yet to be poured resulted in complexities with lifting and bracing engineering. The panels were lifted from casting beds utilizing typical lifting inserts in the face of the panel. The weight of the panel was then transferred to edge lift inserts on the top edge of the panel supported by the second line on the crane. The edge lift inserts provided the ability for the panels to be swung and set plumb against the steel structure. Without the building's slab-on-grade in place, the panels were all braced to subgrade utilizing helical ground anchors.