When American Concrete Products needed new office space, their choice of building material was never in question. The 3,800 square foot structure was designed to incorporate and showcase precast concrete products. The building, which is situated near the main entrance gate to their large precast production facility, includes a reception area, lobby, conference room, and multiple private and open office spaces. The final design for the structure is a perfect blend of precast concrete, glass and metal wall panels that fold and wrap around each other to create a visually dynamic piece of architecture.
While American Concrete Products does not produce architectural precast concrete wall panels, their sister company, Enterprise Precast Concrete, does. Enterprise Precast Concrete produced forty insulated precast concrete sandwich panels for the project. Insulated precast concrete sandwich wall panels provide a versatile and economical means to meet the structural, thermal, moisture, and architectural requirements of a structure.
The load-bearing precast concrete panels used on this project incorporate the use of two concrete colors with two different finishes. The primary exterior finish is acid etch with areas of light sandblast below and above the window openings. Additionally, the design uses two formliners manufactured by Architectural Polymers to break up the scale of the precast panels and create visual interest.
The use of precast also allowed the construction team to get the building enclosed more quickly compared to other more traditional exterior building envelope systems. |