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This 5.8 acre mixed-use project in Charlotte, North Carolina consists of twin 10-story towers totaling 470,000 SF of office space; a seven-level central parking structure (six levels above grade with one underground level) with 1,680+ parking spaces, and 30,000 SF of retail/restaurant space within the bases of the office building. Traditionally, such buildings would be constructed of stone, but the use of precast enabled these elements of Classical Language to be achieved more economically than stone while still conveying the sense of permanence and quality stone represents. The entire composition is surmounted with a coffered dome which serves as an elaborate mechanical screen and also to raise the building to a height of 200’, creating a distinctive new icon in Charlotte’s SouthPark skyline.
The precast parking structure is designed as a colonnaded connector linking these two office pavilions with a destination restaurant in its base that opens onto two Bosques of trees on the entry plaza. On the west edge, the architecture of the parking structure is modified to include thin-brick in order to blend with the multi-family development opposite the major public space of the overall development. The remaining retail space, either within the base of the parking structure or within the free-standing buildings, flanks the public space, creating a neighborhood pedestrian destination.
PRECAST SOLUTION
The primary design challenge of this mixed-use project was to economically realize the Classical Design of the project’s twin tower buildings. The use of precast allowed the intricate classical elements of cornices, Entablatures, Bolt Course, and Door and Window Surrounds to be successfully created while capturing the detail quality of the architect’s design.
Precast basement retaining walls were included for the parking deck. All of the thin brick was a tumbled product from General Shale and a custom liner from Innovative Formliners. The parking deck had a retail portion provided by field-topped double tees for the roof and floor. All of the structural products on the exterior had monolithic architectural components to match the two office buildings. The office buildings had a series of keyways at the first couple levels that caused the precast joints to be staggered. All of the cornices and window surrounds were provided by the precast.
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