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.

Winkleman Building Company brought Wells Concrete to the table early in the design phase based on an established working relationship with other clients. Wells Concrete helped the design and construction team best leverage the right mix of concrete products to meet their goals.

Description

This total precast structure presented a few challenges through design and construction with considerable effectiveness in the end result.

• With a parking garage beneath physical therapy there was a challenge in obtaining the desired load span to load ratio with heavy equipment physical therapy would include.
• At the entrance of the facility a radius spandrel panel with brick thin returns created the desired introduction to the space though it provided a complicated production challenge…a challenge well worth accommodating.
• There was a strong desire on the owner’s part for day lighting in interior rooms and in the lobby area. This desire required careful design to accommodate the framing and loading necessary for snow and roof loads. In addition, framing accommodations were necessary to carry the ‘clear story’ while providing interior open space that was visually appealing.
• Precast stairwell walls provided a 2-hour fire rating while reducing the schedule by enhancing jobsite coordination, and provided access for trades throughout the construction phase.
• Access to the MRI suite required a removable exterior wall panel to install the MRI machine while providing future flexibility to update the equipment.

Description

This design build senior housing project allowed Samaritan Bethany to consolidate their living options in one location with a six story addition. With the usual budget constraints a project can present, a total precast structure quickly became the preferred building system for many reasons. This project presented a very quick construction schedule and a tight site with a tie-in to an existing facility at the top of the list.

To expedite this complex project Wells Concrete teamed with Ericksen Roed & Associates Structural Engineers for precast engineering services. In the pre-construction phase Wells was heavily involved in considerable preliminary pricing and value engineering requiring various solutions, and extensive sample coordination with varying color and finish options to keep the project on budget. It was in this phase that the Wells team proposed a vertical and horizontal panel orientation to aide in the anesthetic, consistency and window configuration the owner desired while maximizing the budget.

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.