Project Overview
Reimagining the future of a city is a tall task, especially when building a highly visible, 24-story structure along the waterfront. For real estate developer Related Ross, the goal in designing and constructing One Flagler, a 285,000-ft2 Class A office building in West Palm Beach, Fla., was to establish a new coastal landmark for the city. Doing so would require building a structure that is equal parts resilient, sustainable, and eye-catching. And while initial concepts for One Flagler called for a cast-in-place concrete solution, Wells, in partnership with architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), pivoted to a precast concrete system, resulting in an office tower that not only provides top-tier amenities but also reimagines modern workplace design with panoramic water views, open and collaborative interior spaces, and a striking architectural footprint.
Monolithic State of Mind
One Flagler’s defining feature is its elegantly crafted façade, which was constructed with approximately 1100 white, preglazed architectural precast concrete panels with a refined, honed finish. To achieve the building’s signature stone-like appearance, the Wells team developed custom concrete mixture proportions. Bug holes and surface blemishes were meticulously minimized through precise casting and burnishing processes. Additionally, the architectural vision for the building required that all panel joints and structural connections be completely hidden to create a clean, uninterrupted exterior surface. Visible caulking or exposed fasteners were not acceptable on the project, demanding a highly precise and coordinated panel interface design. As Joseph Chase, principal at SOM, explained, one of the biggest challenges was attaining the level of refinement expected for a contemporary Class A office building of this type.
“We wanted to preserve a monolithic architectural expression, so a key focus became how to conceal the joints,” he says. “As a team, we developed an overlapping panel system, using precision-engineered metal closures to mask the seams. The result is a clean façade that combines the performance advantages of precast with a sculptural architectural presence.”
Achieving the fully integrated precast concrete façade with concealed joints, sculptural geometry, and floor-to-ceiling preglazed panels required an extraordinary level of precision across every stage of design, fabrication, and installation. To meet that requirement, the design team leveraged advanced digital tools, including building information modeling (BIM), to realize their vision. BIM was indispensable in modeling the unique geometry of the panels, including their distorted hexagonal shapes, deeply recessed fins, and monolithic corner units. Because the precast concrete panels nested both vertically and horizontally, minor deviations in any one panel could cascade into misalignments across the entire façade. Using BIM, the team developed a highly detailed digital model that incorporated exact embed locations, rigging points, joint alignments, and panel tolerances. This enabled seamless coordination among the trades and eliminated any potential guesswork in the field.
Chase noted that the use of precast concrete delivered numerous advantages to the project. “One of the biggest benefits was the ability to significantly reduce the construction timeline without compromising on quality,” he says. “The material’s inherent strength and rigidity gave us the structural performance we needed while speeding up the installation process. Since precast elements are fabricated off-site, we were able to achieve a consistent high-quality finish, minimize on-site labor, and reduce construction waste.”
Reducing construction waste was one contributing factor to the project achieving LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Additionally, given south Florida’s climate, the decision to use precast concrete offered several sustainable benefits. Chase says One Flagler’s high-performance façade shades the building’s deeply recessed windows from direct sunlight, reducing solar heat gain and improving occupant comfort. Together with insulated glazing units, the design reduces the amount of thermal energy that can penetrate the interior of the structure while still allowing natural light into the building’s workspaces.
With picturesque views, comfortable spaces, and a strikingly modern design, One Flagler seamlessly combines form, function, and sustainability from its prominent location on the west end of the Royal Park Bridge. Thanks to thoughtful design and the manufacture and installation of high-quality architectural precast concrete panels, the structure now serves as a beacon of transformation as West Palm Beach continues to advance into the future.
Mason Nichols is a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based writer and editor who has covered the precast concrete industry since 2013. |