2011 Tilt-Up Achievement Winners
By: Wendy Ward, Constructive Communication, Inc.
TCA has announced the recipients of the 2011 Tilt-Up Achievement Awards. Now in its 20th consecutive year, the Achievement Awards program was established by TCA to honor projects that use site-cast Tilt-Up concrete to introduce new building types, advance industry technology and provide unique solutions to building programs. Projects were reviewed by a panel of 14 judges, representing the TCA membership, educational institutions, publishing and industry management. Several judges worked collaboratively within their companies to broaden the perspective and the experience base used to evaluate the projects. As in previous years, submittals were judged on aesthetic expression, schedule, size, originality, finishes and special conditions; all characteristics of the projects that would attract and hold the interest of architects and building owners. To qualify for consideration, projects had to be submitted by a TCA member in good standing.
According to Jim Baty, Technical Director of the TCA, the strength of Tilt-Up continues to be evidenced through projects submitted for this awards program. “Despite the pressures created on teams throughout the industry in the face of these difficult economic conditions, the importance of demonstrating craftsmanship, creativity and dominant solutions remains,” said Baty. “The projects awarded this year continue to display the progressive movement found throughout the Tilt-Up industry.”
Project submittals were encouraged from any market segment and were aligned into specific categories and sub-categories: Manufacturing/Industrial, Corporate Headquarters Complex, Warehouse/ Distribution (Small Business/Distribution, Speculative), Retail (Lifestyle centers – Walking Malls, Single Occupant and “Big Box”), Office (One-Two Story, Three Stories and Higher, and Technology Centers), Spiritual Buildings, Educational (K-12 and Higher Education), Institutional (Detention/Correction, Low-Rise, Parking Garage, Service Facilities such as Hospitals and Care Centers), Commercial (Hotels, Golf Clubs, Recreation, Theaters, etc.), Housing, Special Projects and Innovative Application Techniques.
This year, the panel of judges recognized a total of 23 award recipients, and selected seven overall Excellence in Achievement winners that best represent the heights the industry has attained. These projects, detailed below, exemplify the current state-of-the-art achievement in Tilt-Up construction with their unique and inventive use of the method.
EVIE GARRETT DENNIS CAMPUS:
188,000-square-foot educational facility in Denver, Colo.
Submitted by: Saunders Construction, Inc. of Centennial, Colo.
Products for this project supplied by: Meadow Burke, Scott System, Thermomass – Composite Technologies, Fitzgerald, Sherwin Williams and Davis.
Designed and built in just 16 months, the Evie Garrett Dennis Campus is the first Tilt-Up school for the Denver Public School system and one of the fastest-designed and -constructed K-12 schools in Colorado. To facilitate construction scheduling, the campus (composed of three educational academies and a Student Union) was designed entirely with the use of Revit, a 3-D Building Information Modeling software. All four buildings feature exterior load-bearing Tilt-Up walls, while the Union building also includes some interior Tilt-Up. The buildings incorporate several different finishes, including painted panels with articulated rustications and cast-in brick, plus integrally colored and textured panels designed to represent Colorado’s topography. Leaning panels at entries and classrooms add further architectural flare. The close proximity of the academies necessitated an immense focus on panel layout, requiring numerous casting beds. The split-level structure of the Union – at the east and west elevations, panels were used to retain earth instead of cast-in-place concrete walls – created further casting-bed challenges. With its use of ground-source heat pumps, a 300-kilowatt solar energy system, customized daylight glazing, light harvesting, and advanced digital controls, the project has already been called one of the most energy efficient and state-of-the-art schools in Colorado.
CITY OF LAUDERHILL MUNICIPAL COMPLEX:
44,650-square-foot municipal complex in Lauderhill, Fla. Submitted by: Woodland Construction Company of Jupiter, Fla.
Other TCA member involvement: Permit Engineering Services. Products for this project supplied by: Meadow Burke, White Cap Building Supply, Nox-Crete Products, Tex-Cote and EIFS.
Built to replace the old and outdated City Hall, this four-story municipal office building is the first LEED Silver City Hall in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties, and features workspace for the mayor, commissioners, city manager and supporting departments, plus a 150-seat Commission Chamber with a pre-function area for community and civic events. In addition to two-, three-, and four-story Tilt-Up walls, the original design used cast-in-place beams and columns to help bear the large loads imposed by elevated decks to be used for archives and filing, which were ultimately incorporated into the Tilt-Up panel design. To create depth on the exterior, both entrance alcoves are framed by stacked, offset wall panels. A domed roof on the City Commission Chamber and standing seam metal roofs on the other wings accent the architectural design. Balconies on the third floor of both entries provide a spot for employees to relax. Limited access on the downtown site required all the panels to be cast on temporary outside casting slabs and walked to their location. The structural design also required cast-in corbels to support the offset entry panels. To accomplish this, the team cut a void through the casting surface, lined it with Styrofoam, formed the corbel below the casting surface, and cast it with the panel. With its upscale yet traditional architecture, this building is a testament to the viability of Tilt-Up.
BECK OFFICE BUILDING:
32,000-square-foot office building in Tampa, Fla.
Submitted by: Sunshine Structures, Inc. of Lehigh Acres, Fla.
Other TCA member involvement: CON/STEEL Tilt-Up Systems and LJB Inc.
Products for this project supplied by: Meadow Burke, White Cap Building Supply and Nox-Crete Products.
The Tampa Heights Riverfront Community Redevelopment Area, a community eyesore since the local police moved their headquarters elsewhere, is currently being reinvented as a premier waterfront community. One of its first buildings, this 32,000-square-foot, two- story-plus-penthouse office, was constructed using a cast-in-place concrete, steel-reinforced Tilt-Up wall panel and a structural steel system. The building’s natural exposed concrete finish, created using a hand-set, custom form liner built with 1-by-4-inch lumber, gives the panels a dynamic, textured-plank look. (The lumber was reused as exposed ceiling material in the conference room.) Because of the sloping site, stepped foundations and a cast-in-place stem wall (with a finish carefully matched to the Tilt-Up panels) were used to establish an aesthetically pleasing base for the panels. Because the tilting clearance was less than 12 inches from an existing occupied building, panels were plumb-set with a proprietary panel clamp, allowing them to be picked straight up without a top pick plate. The addition of rusted steel panels, integrated trellises and a green roof enhances the earthy feel of this LEED Silver Certified office building.
TOHO WATER AUTHORITY ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS:
52,147-square-foot office building in Kissimmee, Fla. Submitted by: Tilt-Con Corporation of Altamonte Springs, Fla.
Other TCA member involvement: TLC Engineering for Architecture. Products for this project supplied by: Meadow Burke and Nox-Crete Products.
The Toho Water Authority Administration building is the new home of the Tohopekaliga Water Authority, the largest provider of water, wastewater and reclaimed water services for Kissimmee, Poinciana and Osceola counties in Florida. The building boasts several TCA superlatives, ranking ninth on TCA’s Top Ten Widest Panels list, second on the TCA Top Ten Heaviest Panels list (330,000 pounds), and ranking first on the TCA Top Ten Largest Panels list with 2,950-square-foot panels. The large, heavy panels required two cranes working in synchronization with ground crews to set in place, and the small site and limited space presented even greater challenges. The finished building displays intricate rustication and architectural detailed recesses to provide a modern look. The Toho Water Authority Administration building earned a LEED Certification for its use of recycled concrete and regional materials.
NORDIC NATURALS:
89,384-square-foot office/ distribution center in Watsonville, Calif. Submitted by: Ausonio Incorporated of Castroville, Calif.
Other TCA member involvement: Joseph J. Albanese. Products for this project supplied by: Bigge Crane, GraniteRock, CMC Rebar, White Cap Building Supply, Nox-Crete Products and Fitzgerald.
Fish-oil distributor Nordic Naturals sought to replicate the character of a Norwegian fishing village in their new corporate offices and large warehouse/distribution center, and felt Tilt-Up construction would be the best way to mimic their unique skylines and soaring heights. To translate the villages’ traditional board-and-batten construction into concrete, the team built form liners with wood grain patterns and added wood battens to the face of the concrete panels. Tilt-Up proved ideal for reproducing the steep roof slopes and gables of Norwegian architecture, although the 40-foot-wide and, in some cases, 48-foot-high panels presented the crews with some challenges. With copious window holes on the panels, the team was tasked with figuring out a solution that would maintain minimal panel thickness to keep the crane loads reasonable while avoiding excessive reinforcing to keep the budget in check. The project is LEED registered NC 2.2 with a target of Gold. The project used 30 percent regional materials and 20 percent recycled content. It was also designed to be 31.5 percent more efficient than ASHRAE 90.1-2004. The building’s owner was ecstatic with the finished product, praising Tilt-Up’s ability to deliver an authentic replica of a Norwegian fishing village in a short timeframe.
CEDAR RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL:
375,000-square-foot educational facility in Round Rock, Texas. Submitted by: American Constructors, Inc. of Austin, Texas. Other TCA member involvement: Urban Concrete.
Products for this project supplied by: CMC Construction Services, Thermomass, Slater Painting and Dean Contracting.
To create an aesthetically pleasing building for Cedar Ridge High School, the contractor blended Tilt-Up concrete walls with masonry, metal panels, aluminum, glass, plaster and paint. Tilt-Up was used structurally to facilitate the architectural finishes while keeping costs in check. For example, to accommodate the gymnasium’s large windows, roof joists were originally designed to bear on structural steel behind the Tilt-Up wall. However, a redesign eliminated the majority of the steel and used the panels to support the joists, which reduced interference of the columns with the folding bleacher sections along that wall. Tilt-Up panels also were used as supports for four large “flyovers,” composed of large steel beams and joists, which sit 40 feet above the courtyard. By recycling concrete into special containers and on-site casting beds, the contractor was able to divert 89 percent of its construction waste from landfills, thus surpassing the 75-percent requirement under LEED guidelines. That, combined with the fact that the concrete supplied for the project came from plants within a 20-mile radius of the construction site, has the school on track to achieve LEED Silver Certification.
BEDROCK QUARTZ:
25,000-square-foot manufacturing/ industrial facility in West Jordan, Utah. Submitted by: J.M. Williams and Associates, Inc./AE Urbia of Salt Lake City, Utah and Arc/Artel.
Other TCA member involvement: Tom Stuart Construction.
For their new 25,000-square-foot manufacturing and office facility, the owners of Bedrock Quartz wanted a structure that would reflect the company’s image as a supplier of high-end granite countertops. The resulting sculpture-like building features a steel and glass tube of office space that appears to pass through the concrete Tilt-Up box, which is accentuated by a large, cantilevered wing wall. The wing wall provides a protected outdoor second-level balcony, while the interior office area has an open atrium capped with a large skylight. Walkways around the atrium appear to bridge across the space, and the Tilt-Up concrete walls support large, cantilevered geometric forms that pass through the building. Both the office and manufacturing areas are bathed in natural light, thanks to an abundance of carefully located windows that increase views and enhance the work environment while reducing energy costs. Since Bedrock Quartz has moved into the new building, the company reports that business has increased, internal processes are more efficient, and there is an increase in employee morale.
