Proj Overview

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Sandy Pines Recreational Community recreational-vehicle resort and campground in Hopkins, Mich., has been popular with families for generations. To ensure the safety of their guests, the park owners opted to build a large, multipurpose facility that would serve as a storm shelter as well as a recreation building.

Read more about this project in the Spring 2022 issue of Ascent.

PRECAST SOLUTION

Precast concrete walls and a precast concrete roof, as well as a decorative non–precast concrete gabled roof, help the building fit in with existing buildings. The surfaces of the wall panels were made with formliners that resemble siding and painted after fabrication.

 

Project Team

Architect/Structural Engineer

WLP Architects & Engineers

Contractor

FCC Construction

Owner

Sandy Pines Recreational Community

Precast Concrete Specialty Engineer

Fabcon

Precast Concrete Producer

Fabcon

Key Project Attributes

  • The two-story precast concrete facility is 12,000 ft2 and houses, among other things, administrative offices, meeting rooms, a commercial kitchen, and a library.
  • The colors, textures, and shapes on the outside of the new shelter/recreation center dispute the misconception that all concrete structures are ugly gray boxes.
  • To compensate for the instability of the sandy soil, the contractor, FCC Construction in Caledonia, Mich., sank conical precast concrete piers in multiple locations, keeping the foundation flat and level.

Project/Precast Scope

  • 9900 ft2 of insulated walls with formliner finishes, including stone and siding.
  • Components include 71 10-in. hollow-core slabs; 46 8-in. hollow-core slabs; 16 12-in. insulated walls with liner finish Type A (rock wall); 22 12-in. insulated walls with liner finish Type B (siding); four 6-in. solid walls; seven 8-in. solid walls; 10 inverted tee beams; four columns; two 10-in. solid slabs.
  • The new two-story shelter, which accommodates 1145 people, is FEMA 361–rated and can stand up to an EF-5 tornado with winds exceeding 200 mph.