PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Brownsburg High School Fieldhouse project included 44,364-SF of architectural precast wall panels featuring three thin-brick types, cladding a striking 80,000-SF fieldhouse addition with a bow-truss roof. Designed to expand the school’s athletic and community facilities, the new fieldhouse accommodates an eight-lane indoor track and multiple basketball courts, providing a highly functional and flexible space for students and the broader community.
The addition was designed to integrate seamlessly with the existing high school campus. Three thin-brick colors were incorporated into the precast panels to closely match adjacent masonry construction, with distinctive architectural profiles concentrated within the lower 10 feet of the façade. A defining feature of the structure is the bow-truss roof system, which required radiused precast end panels to precisely follow the roof’s curvature and enhance the building’s dynamic visual expression.
Close coordination across the project team ensured that the non-load-bearing precast panels established the building enclosure early in the construction process. This approach enabled efficient sequencing while delivering a durable exterior solution.
PRECAST SOLUTION
Architectural precast concrete was selected to meet the project’s complex geometric conditions, construction sequencing requirements, and aesthetic goals. A total of 225 insulated wall panels were used, including large-format panels measuring up to 11 feet 6 inches wide by 52 feet 7 inches tall and weighing up to 60,000 pounds. All panels were required to be erected and fully braced prior to installation of the bow-truss structural steel roof system, making precast an ideal solution for schedule reliability and structural stability.
Because the roof trusses extended beyond the exterior face of the wall panels, the precast units were fabricated with integrated pockets to accommodate the structural steel. High Concrete Group worked closely with the structural engineer and steel contractor to ensure pocket sizes and elevations were accurately detailed, enabling precise alignment and efficient field installation.
Precast delivered additional value through early collaboration during the design development phase. High Concrete Group assisted in converting the east elevation column covers from hand-set masonry to approximately 4,400 square feet of thin-brick precast column covers. This modification eliminated the need for a separate masonry supplier and accelerated the construction schedule by approximately three weeks, reinforcing precast concrete as a solution that provides architectural consistency, construction efficiency, and long-term durability. |