Wells Concrete was awarded the Gilbert High School Auditorium project in Gilbert, Iowa with Harold Pike Construction(HPC).  DLR Group (Des Moines, Iowa office) is the architect of record and remained open to precast as an alternate system for the Auditorium portion of the project if it helped the budget.  With the precast alternate bid for wall panels,  coupled with other low bid divisions, the design team will have budget dollars available to finish out the auditorium, which was initially planned as shell space. 

Wall panels are designed with a combination of thin brick with sandblast and water wash and ‘Gilbert’ distinctly cast-in to one side of the auditorium.  Wall panels will be produced in Wells Concrete’s Wells, Minnesota plant.

Wells Concrete’s Grand Forks team was awarded the Westlies Truck Center project  in Dickinson, ND with Comstock Construction, Bismarck, ND and Davison Larson Associates.  Wells Concrete was involved early on with Davison Larson Associates in the planning of a total precast replacement facility for Westlies Truck Center.  The project is being produced in the Grand Forks plant and will be installed later this month.

The North Dakota Ready Mix Association selected the Bismarck Career Academy for a Gold Star award in the precast category of the 2011 Gold Star Awards program.

The project team included:

• Owner: Bismarck Public Schools
• Architect: Tvenge Architects and Planners
• Engineer: CW Structural
• General Contractor: Northwest Contracting

When considering a new school on the Bismarck State College campus, near the existing Career & Technical Education Center, it was clear there was one building product that would provide the magnitude this space should portray. Bismarck Public Schools has a history of working with precast; the decision was easy particularly given the aggressive construction schedule.

The Center has enrollment of nearly 800 students annually from nine different public and private high schools. The academy offers hands-on coursework in Aviation, Horticulture/Botany (complete with a greenhouse), Pre-engineering/Tech Ed, medical-related careers, Electronics, Graphic Design/Digital Design and a Resource room.

The site this building was constructed on presented some challenges through design as the building was set into a hillside. Additionally, the inherent time crunch prevalent in school construction, made a natural fit for precast as speed of construction is a compelling advantage. Finally, precast offers the durability and minimal maintenance a public school warrants.

This building was produced in Wells Concrete’s Grand Forks plant and shipped to the site where Northwest Contracting installed the product. The design offered an aesthetically pleasing mix of precast, metal panels, and mirrored glass that really make this building stand out on the Bismarck State College campus.

Wells Concrete was awarded Hawkins Chemical with Knutson Construction, Paul Meyer Architects, and Larson Engineering.  The building project on 28 acres in Rosemount, MN provides Hawkins the space to transfer some manufacturing activity.

Wells Concrete was awarded Polarfab III with Mortenson Construction and BWBR Architects.  This is the second project of its kind with this team for Polarfab Semiconductors Inc. in Bloomington.  This 180,000 sf addition expands manufacturing and office space for their clean room operations.  The product mix Wells will produce and install includes wall panels with two different mix designs in one panel, columns and beams, and hollowcore plank floors.  Product will be produced in Wells plant.

August 18, 2011 – Join Wells Concrete and Altus Group as they host a “More with Less” seminar entitled Building Enclosure & Technology on Oct. 28, 2011 at the University of Minnesota – Campus Club in Minneapolis, MN.

Clients and project partners are invited to join as the presentation outlines new ways to create enclosures that are lighter, stronger, sustainable and more energy efficient. Earn up to six AIA-registered continuing education credits when you attend a full-day seminar on new precast design technologies. Presentations will be held at 16 locations nationwide.

Presentations will explain use of new precast reinforcing materials, mix designs, rigid insulation profiles, nanotechnology-enabled coatings and unitized construction. Attendees will learn how to design low-CO2e exterior wall systems that control moisture and improve energy efficiency and sustainability.

Interested building profesionals can register for the seminar at www.morewithlesstour.com. A $50 registration fee will be refunded upon attendance. Call 866-GO-ALTUS or info@altusprecast.com for more information.