Proj Overview

Project Overview

Hotel guests and homeowners today want energy efficiency to ensure they are comfortable despite outside conditions. To ensure a high-performance design that also offered a classic appearance, designers specified precast concrete insulated sandwich wall panels for The Heldrich mixed-use building. Many of the panels also feature embedded thin brick to create a distinctive look.

Precast Solution

The thin-faced, back-ribbed concrete panels were constructed using insulating EPS foam stay-in-place forms. The panels weigh only 32 pounds per square foot, about 70% less than conventional 10-inch precast concrete panels. The lighter panels minimized crane requirements, preserved piece size, and kept erection costs low. More than $90,000 worth of perimeter steel and labor costs were saved with the lighter panels.

To complement the granite on the building face, the panels are finished with eco-friendly shot blasting for consistent color and texture that gives the appearance of limestone.

 

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Project Team

Architect

James R. McAuliffe Architects 

Engineer

DeSimone Consulting Engineers 

General Contractor

Keating Building Corp. 

Owner

Heldrich Assoc. LLC. 

Precaster and Precast Specialty Engineer

High Concrete Group LLC

Key Project Attributes

  • Deep reveals provide more contrast between light and shadows and was accomplished due to lightweight of panels.
  • Carbon reinforcing won’t corrode or crack, allowing less concrete to be used as cover.
  • The panels’ lighter weight minimized crane requirements, preserved piece size, and kept erection costs under control.
  • Cost of EPS foam in panels was lower than that of the concrete, so each additional inch of thickness cost half that of conventional precast.
  • Light panels used to reduce weight on heavy cornices. 
  • More than $90,000 worth of perimeter steel and labor costs were saved as a result of the lighter panels.
  • Panels were finished with eco-friendly shot blasting, which uses recyclable steel shot instead of sand media, for consistent color and texture that gives the appearance of limestone.

Project/Precast Scope

  • 10-story building with a 250-room hotel and conference center, retail space, academic space, and luxury condominiums.
  • 40,150 square feet of precast concrete insulated sandwich wall panels.
  • Panels fabricated 10 inches deep to allow deeper reveals.
  • Panels weighed 32 pounds per square foot.
  • CarbonCast brand architectural panels include a carbon-fiber grid as secondary reinforcement in the panel face, replacing conventional steel mesh.
  • Panelized system with embedded thin brick allowed for fast erection and lower long-term maintenance.