Buildings in the News 2010
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2010 The Most Successful Year of Skyscraper
Completion in History
From The Council
on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
 In
a year dominated by news coverage of the new “World’s
Tallest Building” – Burj Khalifa, Dubai – one
may be surprised to learn that, besides being the year in which
a building first surpassed the 600, 700, and 800-meter thresholds,
2010 has seen the completion of more skyscrapers than any previous
year in history. CTBUH annual data illustrates that 66 buildings
with a height of 200 + meters (656 feet) were completed in 2010
(breaking the previous record, set in 2007, of 48 buildings completed).
See
the complete list.
Elmhurst and Metra Team Up
for New Commuter Parking Deck
 The
new parking deck in Elmhurst, Ill., a Chicago suburb, used beautiful
precast products to compliment the historic downtown Elmhurst area.
The deck features precast
load-bearing spandrel panels with thin brick inlaid and a sandblasted
architectural finish. Completing the parking deck in a busy urban
environment meant that the contractor had to stay aware of traffic
and safety at all times, which made precast an excellent choice
to help speed construction of the deck. The entire project took
226 working days and included building demolition, tank removal,
brownfield re-development, and installation of the precast components
as well as other construction.
ARCO/Murray National Construction
Company of Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., was the construction manager
and designer of the deck, which had precast supplied by Illini Precast
of Marseilles, Ill. The five-story structure includes 253 parking
spaces, including one subterranean parking level.
The parking deck was open
to commuters on September 8, 2010.
Lehigh Leeds Plant Commissions
New State-Of-The Art Silo
 The
Lehigh Cement Company plant in Leeds, Ala., celebrated the commissioning
of its new 20,000 ton, state-of-the-art, multi-compartment and environmentally
friendly silo in October 2010.
"D" Silo
is a new loading and storage facility that will allow the storage
of up to 20,000 metric tons of cement. The new facility also features
highly-sophisticated environmental controls to produce a virtually
dust-free product loading system. The facility, which took about
two and a half years to construct, is 79-feet in diameter and 239-feet
tall. More than 6,200 cubic yards of concrete was used during construction.
The concrete mix included
the plant's own Type C1157HE cement and a ground granulated blast
furnace slag (GGBFS) cement which yielded an end product with a
lower carbon footprint and an expected service life of 100 years.
 Patent
Pending: Energy-Efficient Parking Garage
Incorporating elements unheard of for parking garages, developer
Friedman Properties recently opened an 11-story structure in the
River North area of Chicago designed for maximum energy efficiency,
minimal waste, and roughly 725 parking spaces.
Designed to blend into its relatively upscale surroundings, there
is about 15,000 square feet of retail space on the ground level
and a second-level sky-bridge will connect the garage to two nearby
hotels. Openings between the glass planks allow air to flow naturally
through the garage, eliminating the need for forced-air ventilation
systems. Inside the Greenway will be plug-in stations for electric
cars, spaces for car-sharing services, parking for bikes, and showers
for cyclists. A green roof with landscaped gardens will combat urban
heat island effects and control stormwater runoff.
The design and development team embedded into the building's southwest
corner a series of six vertically stacked wind turbines that will
produce electricity year-round, directly offset the facility's energy
requirements, and power exterior lighting. The turbines' location
will capitalize on Chicago's northwest winter and southwest summer
winds, and they are estimated to generate 10,000-15,000 kWh per
year.
As is required to obtain LEED certification, all construction materials
for the building were produced within a 500-mile radius.
With a framework of precast elements supplied by J.W. Peters &
Sons (double tees) and Lombard Precast (architectural precast spandrel
and wall panels), Friedman Properties has a patent pending on the
design, making it possible to license it for other locations.
Innovative Construction Imparts
Old World Grace to Holy Redeemer Church
 Cast-in-
place concrete textured with cedar planks gives an Old World feel
to modern construction for the Holy Redeemer Church, Vancouver,
Wash.
Concrete was selected for the church because of its ideal blend
of plasticity and durability. The architect integrated decorative
detail within the concrete along the window profiles, building corners,
and gables. By using cast in place concrete for the structural elements,
the amazing architectural details of the Holy Redeemer Church were
economically produced without other materials.
The exposed concrete exterior gives the church a clean and pure
appearance – one that will endure for generations. This look
also saved resources, since the concrete needs no coverings or cladding.
To emulate nineteenth-century churches, cedar wood planks were attached
to the wall formwork to create a board form look with cast-in-place
concrete.
The project was won the Grand Award in the Washington Aggregates
and Concrete Association’s 2010 Award of Excellence in Concrete
Construction.
Precast Construction Stands
Out by Blending In
 A
second training center for the Chicagoland Laborers blends into
its surrounding urban neighborhood thanks to precast concrete panels
with a brick façade.
Beautiful precast wall panels blend cast-in, thin-set red brick
with limestone colored architectural concrete. The panels are 12-feet
wide and 36-feet tall. The architect, Fujikawa Johnson Gobel, used
a band of clerestory windows located around the top of the precast
panels and spanning the roof steel bar joists to provide natural
light.
The facility also boasts a unique pergola entrance, where prestressed
and radius panels are used. A green roof has been planted atop the
pergola area.
The brick-clad panels were fabricated using wood forms built in
the Lombard Architectural Precast Products Company plant. The full
height wall panels are prestressed.
The new 75,900 square foot training and apprentice center includes
three two-story training bays with drive-in doors, a welding shop,
maintenance shop, two gravel pits, and various tool and equipment
storage areas. Classrooms, an auditorium, conference rooms, a computer
lab, lunchroom and kitchen complete the single-story part of the
structure.
Concrete Rebuilds High School
Destroyed By Katrina
 Slidell,
La., a suburb on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, was hit particularly
hard by the winds and storm surge of Hurricane Katrina. The storm
surge pushed over eight feet of water through the area, all but
demolishing Salmen High School.
Constructed in 1965, the
20 buildings damaged by the hurricane encompassed a combined area
of 153,984 square feet and contained multiple classrooms, administrative
offices, a kitchen/cafeteria, restrooms and a gymnasium.
In addition to building
the new high school at a 14-foot elevation, the new school will
have the added protection of concrete construction to weather the
next storm. A fast-paced construction schedule made it an
ideal project for flooring constructed with insulating concrete
forms (ICFs) and concrete precast panels for the exterior.
The 12-inch Quad-Deck floor
system was built on concrete piers with an additional three inches
of EPS foam on top of the Quad-Deck to increase the beam depths
for added load and span capacity. An ICF system was chosen for its
exceptional insulation benefits as well as for the additional sound
reduction to the parking garages located under some of the buildings.
Concrete precast panels were
selected for the exterior of the building. Typical panelized foundations
can be erected in four to five hours, without the need to place
concrete on site. The project is expected to be complete in
June 2010.
Concrete Construction Comes
of Age
 Originally
built and opened in the 1960s, the Bethany Terrace is a health and
rehabilitation center that is now adding 45 new assisted living
apartments to hold up to 50% more residents than the 120 currently
living there. The project architect suggested using precast concrete
for the addition, called Terrace Gardens Assisted Living, because
it is able to give the right look, does not require any variances,
and can be placed quickly and cost effectively.
Located in Morton Grove,
just north of Chicago, the Bethany Terrace is an Illinois State-licensed
facility that provides skilled and intermediate long-term care for
residents—needs which are forecast to increase throughout
the country. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of
persons aged 65 and older is expected to double between 2000 and
2030, from approximately 35 million to an estimated 71 million.
Those aged 80 years and older is expected to grow from 9.3 million
to 19.5 million during the same period. (Click on graph for more
details.)
Older residents often have
additional or specialized needs that affect design and choice of
building materials:
> fire safety—limited
mobility can result in unsafe conditions if fire strikes, so fire
resistant construction is mandatory
> accessibility—limited mobility can
also hamper daily circulation, but open floor plans allow for
easy access to help maintain personal independence
> increased privacy—close/small living
quarters call for better soundproofing
> comfort—well insulated walls for appropriate
interior temperatures, whether hotter or cooler than neighbors
Walls and floors of the 44,000
sq ft addition are being built with precast concrete; it is noncombustible
for fire resistance, has structural capacity for open floor plans
and wide hallways, mass for sound dampening, and thermal mass for
comfortable interiors—a good fit for the residents' needs.
In spite of a continuing tough economy, there is a growing need
for assisted living facilities and concrete's inherent benefits.
The “Suite” Comfort of Concrete
 Guests
in a Forsyth, Ga., hotel are sleeping better tonight thanks to autoclaved
aerated concrete (AAC). High land costs are making it increasingly
common to build on sites that have inherent challenges such as noise,
unlevel terrain, or minimal set-backs. The hotel’s site, a
slim lot adjacent to an interstate, posed a few challenges. Developers
turned to a AAC to help meet their needs for delivering a quality
project—a strong, quiet, 4-story structure near a heavily
traveled highway.
The all-concrete building, including a stucco exterior, incorporates
roofs, floors, interior and exterior walls made from AAC panels
and blocks. AAC is a lightweight, cement-based material that has
been popular in Europe for more than 60 years. Its success in the
U.S. during the past few decades has been more limited, but material
producers see opportunity for growing the market with today’s
focus on sustainable development. The product is energy efficient
and can contain recycled material, both of which are appealing from
a green perspective.
Although AAC’s initial costs for this project were close to
other more traditional products, the building saves operating costs
from energy usage (12 percent) and insurance (7 percent). The value–blocking
out unwanted noise, withstanding high winds, resisting fire, and
saving operating costs—helps everyone sleep better at night.
Quick Concrete Construction
Re-Opens Florida Hotel
 When
a 2008 New Year’s Eve fire destroyed the main building of
the Cheeca Lodge and Spa in the Florida Keys, the owners rebuilt
the historic hotel in a matter of months with precast-concrete modules.
Royal Concrete Concepts provided the modules for the 64,280-square-foot,
64-unit hotel building, which opened in December 2009 just one year
after the fire and in time for the winter tourist season. Based
on an insulated concrete wall panel technology, the modular building
system provides Category 5 hurricane wind resistance, energy efficiency,
and lower life cycle costs while providing unmatched speed of construction.
The room modules were built with high-strength concrete and high-impact
glass windows, designed to last more than 100 years. They are made
with 30 percent recycled materials. The modules arrived on site
with wiring, plumbing, and some finishes already in place, further
speeding construction.
In addition to the hotel rooms, Royal Concrete also worked on the
restaurants. The new building is an elongated, elevated four-story
building that extends beyond the previous building’s footprint
parallel to the Atlantic Ocean.
The project is currently registered under the LEED for New Construction
standard and is planned to be LEED-certified.
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