Ascent • Summer 2025 • Precast Concrete Builds Communities

BUILDINGS OFTEN RECEIVE THE MOST ATTENTION WHEN THEY ARE THE BIGGEST, grandest, or most expensive. But look around any city, perhaps the one in which you live, and you will find many buildings where you and your family go to school, church, a concert, sporting event, museum, or medical center. You might pass them by every day without giving them a second look. Precast concrete is the ideal construction material for any of these buildings, as the case studies on the following pages demonstrate. Read on to learn how precast builds communities.

Monument Drive Parking Garage and Transit Center is a new commuter parking structure located in Fairfax County, Va., just west of Washington, D.C. Designed by HGA and Walker Consultants and constructed by Howard Shockey & Sons with precast concrete manufactured by Metromont, the eight-level, 262,000-ft² facility has room for 820 vehicles. In addition to free parking for commuters, the facility supports buses, rideshare, bicycles, and a green roof.

The owner, Fairfax County, wanted to be creative for this high-profile, multimodal parking structure. Visible on all four sides, the prominent site serves as the gateway to the Fairfax County government center and is strategically located for commuters to the District of Columbia.

Fairfax County often selects precast concrete for their parking facilities for its “familiarity, inherent durability, cost effectiveness, and speed of construction,” says Damian Larkin, project manager at Walker Consultants. The parking structure layout is a single helix that is repetitive and user-friendly with flat parking. For a parking layout and circulation system that relies on 90-degree parking with two-way traffic, “precast concrete makes all the sense in the world,” adds Jim Polhamus, principal at HGA.

The exterior is a departure from a utilitarian transit center. Pre-cast concrete spandrels are dark gray in color with an acid-etched finish. The precast concrete panels can be seen up close but fade behind a dramatic aluminum screen encompassing the total–precast concrete structure.

“We designed the façade system drawing on earthy colors like brick without actually using masonry,” says Polhamus. The aluminum tubes form a gradient reminiscent of a tree. With the appearance of individual pickets or sticks, the aluminum panel system spans floor to floor. The pattern comprises three tube widths and three shades of terra-cotta. “It seems like a random pattern, but the intent is a dense forest of different tube widths and accent colors to avoid a monochromatic appearance.

The custom aluminum system is coated with a textured reddish-brown finish and was preassembled to reduce labor and installation costs. Metromont cast embed plates in the precast concrete spandrels to support a steel frame. The steel framing that is attached to the precast concrete spandrels used custom clips to support an aluminum assembly. As the structural and functional designers of the parking structure, Walker Consultants detailed façade supports to allow independent movement of the precast concrete and screening systems.

The aluminum system is attached to the galvanized frame in the field with about 18-in. clearance from the face of the precast concrete panels. The connections had to handle the different tolerances and movements of the precast concrete, steel, and aluminum. It was also vital to maintain the openness for air circulation to avoid the need for mechanical ventilation.

Precast Concrete Components: 258,122 ft² (792 pieces) of structural and architectural precast concrete components (field-topped and factory-topped double tees, spandrels, wall panels, beams); 47,275 ft² of acid-etched finish, 364 ft² formliner; 30,401 ft² of medium acid-etched finish

The first level of the structure supports “slugging” with lay-by lanes for vehicle queues. Slugging is a form of casual carpooling in the Washington, D.C., metro region that matches single-occupancy vehicles with potential rideshare partners. To take advantage of faster commute times in express lanes on Route 66, drivers pick up passengers heading to a specific destination such as the Pentagon or downtown to meet the requirements for high-occupancy vehicles (HOV-3). Slugs typically catch rides at local commuter facilities like the Monument Drive Parking Garage.

Entrances and configurations affect how a parking structure is used. The tight site, street access, and the need to accommodate bus movements all had an impact on the layout and orientation of the structure. Wayfinding, stall striping, and ramp locations were tailored to fit the usage around the site. “The ramp on the north side of the garage separates the flow of buses from vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. The buses access the site separately from the north side from Random Hill Road and all the other activities are from Government Center Parkway,” Larkin adds.

“Public safety is of paramount importance to Fairfax County as well as the users of this facility,” says Polhamus. A continuous fence was installed to physically separate the circulation of buses and pedestrians. Access for passenger vehicles is opposite the bus entrance, and they function independently. The same applies to bicyclists who use a multiuse path.

Designed by HGA, architectural lighting adds nighttime drama across the structure’s exterior. Continuous lighting graziers control the changing colors to accentuate the unique architectural pattern across the parking structure. Another striking feature is the single-run stair tower. The stair towers provide openness and passive security and assist with way finding. The framing is hung from the outside instead of being centrally located. This gives the appearance of a central tree column whose branches support each landing. The single-run stairs rise from each landing, which appear to float into the seven levels of parking. The single-run landings are accented with synchronized LED strips.

Without a laydown area, logistics were challenging. Local highways also had restrictions for heavy haulers and oversize loads. Trailers had to be parked and shuttled to be offloaded. The tight triangular-shaped site added another layer of complexity for installation, recalls David Sommer, vice president of project management and field operations at Metromont. “Access was limited, and crane movement was tight, but we were able to use Monument Drive to stage and drop off trailers. We had to work around the bus canopy construction and get creative with supplying the crane with precast concrete pieces,” he says.

The new multimodal facility with free parking encourages using mass transit. There are plans in the distant future to build a nearby METRO station, which would add a light rail component to the commuter options at this feeder location.

Monument Drive Commuter Garage improves accessibility, reduces traffic congestion, fosters economic development, and supports a more sustainable environment. The new transit center is more than where bus routes meet. It serves as a regional mobility hub, with park and ride, pedestrian connections, bike, slug, and bus opportunities. This project is a testament to the collaborative effort of the team to blend functional requirements of commuting with an aesthetic solution.

Career and technical education (CTE) projects can improve the educational backdrop of a community. What used to be called vocational schools, CTE programs provide students with valuable skill sets, preparing them for future employment. At Valley Southwoods Freshman High School in Des Moines, Iowa, 720 ninth-grade students are now better prepared for success in high school and to contribute to the work force.

West Des Moines Community Schools (WDMCS) completed the $28-million expansion project at the high school in summer 2024. The school district is proud to showcase the addition to the school and the community. Designed by Shive-Hattery, an experienced firm in education design, the building creates a space that supports the goals of the school as well as embodies the values of serving the community.

“This cutting-edge facility provides our students with the skills and experiences they need to succeed in internships, apprenticeships, and their future careers,” says WDMCS superintendent Matt Adams. “We are proud to support the next generation of our community’s workforce. It has been exciting to watch our students thrive in this space as they build bright futures.”

The 29,000-ft², two-story building addition integrates an open-design concept with an innovative layout. The design team used precast concrete and structural steel to house programs for culinary arts, manufacturing, engineering technology, construction, robotics, welding, and wood working.

Design flexibility is crucial in CTE construction to adapt to the ever-changing needs of students, programs, and technologies. The laboratory spaces need to accommodate new equipment, furniture, and software without renovation. The Valley South-woods addition was designed for all possible programming needs. “We wanted to give the school district full flexibility as to how they could use this space,” describes Michael Kleene, architect at Shive-Hattery.

Kleene said the addition “flips the script” on what career and technical education means for students. The addition is featured prominently on the site. “Instead of a shop located in the back of the school, it is right in front of the building to make this a model environment for students.”

The existing building was built in the 1990s and did not present the welcoming exterior that the school district desired. Kleene recalls, “We wanted to diverge from that palette and incorporate different finishes and textures.” The result is a subtle nod to the original brick and block building, by way of orange and gray Nawkaw stains on smooth precast concrete panels. At designated locations there are also acid-etched precast concrete panels with a charcoal color and texture that catch the sunlight.

The new construction is meant to stand out from the existing structure in both function and design. To set off the addition, both shadow and relief were incorporated into the charcoal-gray prefabricated wall panels. The precast concrete panels decrease in size as they run along the front of the building.

The insulated panels vary in thickness. The largest is a total of 14 in., which includes an 8-in. panel front wythe, 3 in. of extruded insulation, and 3 in. of concrete on the back wythe. “The charcoal-gray panels had to be augmented to accommodate the deep relief of the custom formliner,” describes Andrew Scholten, sales representative at Wells. The precast concrete panels provide shadow and crisp relief with sufficient concrete cover in contrast to adjacent pieces that were recessed 1 in. The panels have an average R-value of 16, exceeding the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers’ requirements for mass walls.

Coordinating the variety of programs in a CTE project is challenging. Current and future programs must be considered to allow adequate space for agriculture, robotics, and wood working. Kleene describes the process as “thinking outside of the box for this high-volume space.”

In addition to the standard laboratory space, there is also a conference room for students to practice their soft skills with the option for mock interviews or pitching their inventions to local businesses. A computer laboratory, metal shop, and videography studio round out the space. A new central air–cooled chiller and high-efficiency condensing boilers heat and cool the laboratory spaces. Ventilation, exhaust hoods, and dust collection were provided for key pieces of equipment to help improve the indoor air quality of the laboratories. A separate entrance to the CTE addition was added for security purposes and to allow use by the community in addition to the students.

EXPANDED CONTENT FOR: VALLEY SOUTHWOODS HIGH SCHOOL CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ADDITION

With a total of 125 tornadoes across Iowa in 2024, safe rooms and storm shelters are becoming more mainstream in public schools. Storm shelters in schools are designed and constructed according to the ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters (ICC 500). To meet this standard, buildings must withstand a wind speed of 250 mph and the impact of wind-blown debris.

“Precast concrete lends itself to storm shelters, especially in Iowa,” says Seth Falcon, project engineer at Wells. At Valley Southwoods, the precast concrete wall panels and double-tee roof in the assembly space serve that dual purpose. The roof comprises 80-ft-long double tees that were treated with a 2-in. concrete topping to help support the mechanicals as well as meet the uplift requirements.

Building resilience into the Valley Southwoods High School is essential, as it serves as both a learning environment and community refuge during severe weather events. By investing in durable, cost-effective solutions, such as prefabricated concrete components and impact-resistant windows, the school district safeguards occupants and property and reduces repair and replacement costs.

Textured charcoal-gray precast concrete panels differentiate the addition from the existing structure in both function and design. Built to withstand severe weather, the expansion serves the community as a storm shelter, if necessary.

PCI-Certified Erector of Specialty Engineer: US Erectors, Pleasant Hill, Iowa

Precast Concrete Components: 80 architectural insulated walls, 18 architectural solid walls, 19 structural solid walls, 15 double tees

The custom revealed panels extend southward beyond the building to create a screen wall that protects students as well as neighbors from noise. The perimeter wall surrounds the rear of the building, where students emulate work in a construction zone. Adjacent to the existing food service portion of the existing building, the culinary arts laboratory was expanded to feature a teaching kitchen and six practice kitchens. Here, precast concrete panels flank store front glazing that looks out on an outdoor terrace where students can congregate. The same charcoal wall panels were used to provide continuity with the building addition. The main entrance to the school was also renovated, which helped modernize and brighten the façade.

Community involvement requires shared spaces with adaptable layouts. Overhead garage doors in the space allow easy movement of large equipment and future expansion of hands-on learning activities. To bring ample light into the space, glass occupies a large surface area. A gradual decreasing of panel size along the façade allows ample natural light to permeate the structure. The interior of the precast concrete panels and demising walls are finished with gypsum board to provide flexibility in the future without major renovation.

Vocational training plays a critical role in fostering community development. Preparing students for life and career is not something WDMCS takes lightly. This facility provides students with hands-on opportunities to explore different career pathways and connect with businesses in the community. Students from Valley High School also use the addition, which means nearly 3000 students have access to the space.

To meet the distinctive requirements of CTE programs, the design team wanted an economical building solution that offered consistent quality and efficiency while providing a modern and attractive structure. Prefabrication took advantage of flexible bay sizes, year-round manufacturing in a controlled environment, and faster installation that minimized disruptions to school operations.

One of the best things about New York City is access to more than 170 museums. These cultural landmarks focus on education and community engagement and display the city’s diverse history. One such iconic structure is the new Studio Museum of Harlem, which showcases the work of artists of African descent.

Located on 125th Street on the site of the Studio Museum’s original home, the new building will double the space for exhibitions and house public events and educational programs. Scheduled to open in the fall of 2025, the museum will include studios for artists in residence as well as a cafe, lobby, and rooftop terrace.

Situated in the heart of Harlem, its dark, bold exterior is constructed with precast concrete, offering a stark contrast to the traditional architecture of the surrounding neighborhood. Comprising a series of stacked shapes over six stories, the different elevations shift in size and placement. The west façade of the building forms a single vertical wall, while the other three faces feature terraces and overhangs.

The stacked volumes provide 82,000 ft² of exhibition space and public areas. There is also a four-story monumental stair within the museum, which allows visitors to view artwork along the 85-ft-tall vertical gallery.

Taking its cues from the brownstones of Harlem, the Studio Museum projects a dynamic façade with its textured precast concrete and windows of various sizes. “The design was inspired by the masonry architecture of Harlem and draws on its frames, apertures, and doorways. The use of precast concrete evokes the forms and textures of the architectural landscape of the neighborhood,” says Jonathan Pietro, senior associate at Cooper Robertson.

The polished finish on the precast concrete panels accentuates the charcoal-black aggregate. The finish emulates polished granite, and the black hues evoke urban sophistication. The result transforms the building itself into art, blending creativity with functionality. The precast concrete producer, Bétons Préfabriqués du Lac (BPDL), placed the stones individually in the precast concrete form to achieve the desired effect.

The precast concrete creates a sculptural façade that is inviting and reflects the activity inside, describes Pietro. The design intent was a polished finish that exposed the large aggregate and the pre-cast concrete producer went through several iterations perfecting that result.

The striking polished precast concrete panels are 7 in. thick; the remaining solid precast concrete panels are 5 in. thick and have a sandblasted finish. Precast concrete was also used strategically in the interior of the building. In the main lobby there is a tall pre-cast concrete demising wall approximately 26 ft in height that is a feature of the lobby. The exposed precast concrete vestibule in the main entry draws visitors into the interior and complements the stair tower clad in ¾-in.-thick terrazzo stone with its smaller aggregate in similar tones and finishes.

Museums engender pride in local communities. Just as the exhibits and art within the building tell a story, the building and spaces that make up the museum do the same. The Studio Museum demonstrates a connection to the community as it invites Harlem residents and visitors into a multiuse space that will be open to the public during museum hours and used for informal gatherings.

“The stacked composition of varying scales and apertures really open up the façade at street level and draw people in,” says Pietro. A set of glass doors that can be opened in different configurations are located below street level to welcome visitors down a set of steps or a “reverse stoop,” evocative of the New York City brown-stone. This key architectural feature draws the visitor down into the lecture hall area, which serves as a gathering space with terraced seating.

Circulation is important in museum planning and flexibility is key because spaces are subject to change on a regular basis to display art installations. A dramatic solution to this concept is seen in the museum’s monumental stair tower. Clad in polished terrazzo, the four-story space spans the height of the building and at its apex is a clerestory window. “The vertical gallery is fitting for large-scale art display and the pyramid shape at the apex was inspired by local neighborhood cathedrals,” says Pietro.

The Studio Museum relies on a steel frame for its lateral resistance system. The staggered boxes posed challenges for controlling seismic and wind loads. Every piece of precast concrete was custom, adding a layer of complexity as well as tight tolerances. This proved challenging to the building’s structural engineer of record, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH).

SGH has been involved in this unique project since 2015, recalls Kevin Poulin, principal at SGH. “It is not a typical precast building,” he emphasizes. The uniqueness and customization are unusual for precast concrete construction, which is often valued for its repetition and economies of scale. SGH consulting engineer Alexander Stephani agrees. “There were some panels that repeated, but there were over 200 different connection types and 230 unique panels. At that magnitude, every panel had to be designed and reviewed, so efficiency was not the primary goal.”

One of the most critical aspects in engineering precast concrete is the design of connections, which are necessary to transfer loads and restrain movement. The unique precast concrete components, including three-dimensional shapes with multiple sided finishes, required more than 200 unique connection types.

At the upper level of the building, one such precast concrete component spans 50 ft in length and weighs approximately 25 tons. “There is a large magnitude of forces hanging off the side of the building. We were dealing with significant loads, particularly very heavy seismic loads on this project,” says Stephani.

In addition to the unique shapes, custom connections, and tight tolerances, minimal joint spacing was required to align with the curtain wall system. “Despite some large spans, we worked hard to maintain the goal of three-quarter-inch joint spacing with very few exceptions,” recalls Stephani. “For example, in the gallery space the beam loading is over 100 pounds per square inch over 50 feet. In order to achieve that, the live load deflection is limited to less than one quarter.” Everything is studiously planned and aligned in this project, so any changes to the joint spacing would have a significant impact.

The museum was constructed just inches from the adjacent building, but tight sites are common in New York City. It was a meticulous process that involved collaboration at every stage. SGH worked with BPDL and the erector, Midwest Steel, to make it more efficient for the site requirements, including the crane reaches. Some panel sizes were modified to improve efficiency on the jobsite.

“Collaboration was critical for this project,” adds Pietro The precast concrete producer participated in an extensive shop drawing process and countless meetings with Cooper Robertson, SGH, BPDL, Sciame Construction, and other team members. “The complexity demanded that level of cooperation and coordination,” he says. One of the more complex facets of the project was installing the precast concrete.

Precast concrete producer BPDL shipped panels to a storage yard in New Jersey where they were shuttled to the site as needed. Then the challenge of installing the large custom three-dimensional panels began. “The complexities of this job were staggering; this was the most difficult project that we have ever tackled,” says William Silengo, precast concrete superintendent with Midwest Steel.

PCI-Certified Precast Concrete Producer: Bétons Préfabriqués du Lac (BPDL), Alma, QC, Canada

Precast Concrete Components: 40,353 ft² of architectural precast concrete, of which 13,120 ft² was polished

Because of the interior soffit panels, custom rigging was designed for this project to transfer these thirty-ton panels from the crane. “The rigging plan required openings in the floor to allow us to drop our rigging down from the floor above,” says Silengo. “Each panel was detached from the crane and transferred from one set of chain falls to the next until it was in place, sometimes 40 feet into the building.”

During one stage of the installation, a weekend road closure of 124th Street allowed two cranes to work in tandem. “A temporary monorail system was required because the crane was so tight to the building there was no room to set it up with enough luffing jib,” Silengo says. A luffing jib is often used for vertical lifting in confined urban sites. Due to the limited reach and otherwise inaccessible interior, the precast concrete panels were fed to a monorail as Midwest Steel worked around the clock to finish by Monday morning.

Every aspect of this project was painstakingly complex. Despite the myriad challenges and complexities, the project is completed and awaits the grand opening of this iconic structure.

The facility is representative of the strength and vitality of the community it serves. “The façade design was driven in part by the museum’s desire to serve the public with an experience of art from the street and draw the community into the space,” says Pietro. The façade with its form, weight, and texture of the precast concrete creates a strong architectural presence that supports the museum’s goals.

When St. Vincent’s Health required a flexible and scalable structure for its new heart center at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., total–precast concrete offered an affordable solution for establishing a space that could be expanded for future growth if needed.

The original hospital on the banks of the St. Johns River was built in 1914, and, according to Kristen Herman, construction project manager for Ascension Health, the hospital needed more space for heart patients and also wanted a space devoted exclusively to cardiovascular specialties. The hospital was in dire need of additional ICU rooms as well as a consolidated space for heart patients because the existing ICU space was insufficient for the number of cardiac patients St. Vincent’s was taking in.

However, given the hospital’s location next to the river and potential flood areas as well as the age of the original building, Herman acknowledges that “everything we do at Riverside is at tremendous cost.” St. Vincent’s Health needed to erect a new structure more affordably and quickly to minimize disruption to the adjacent existing hospital building. Total–precast concrete fit the bill.

Completed in 2020, the Delores Barr Weaver Heart and Vascular Pavilion is a four-story, total–precast concrete structure featuring embedded Summitville thin brick.

The lower level provides parking while the two middle levels provide space for patient care, including 30 medical and surgical rooms as well as 30 intensive care rooms. The fourth level, currently the structure’s roof, accommodates mechanical systems, though it was designed to become office space in the future when the heart center needs more space. With its flexible design options, precast concrete provided for a future fourth-floor addition or even further vertical expansion.

Herman says the hospital system chose total–precast concrete to address budget concerns. “Plus, it’s a very confined site, so pouring or doing a tilt-up would be problematic.” Additionally, on-site pouring would have extended the construction timeline due to wait times for curing. “And we were working right up against an existing, functioning hospital [building].”

That meant noise was also a potential problem for patients and staff at the hospital. “Schedule is definitely an issue when it comes to on-site operations and impact,” Herman remarks. A total–precast concrete solution meant St. Vincent’s Health could get the new pavilion erected quickly with minimal disruption to the existing hospital site.

Structural Engineers: McVeigh & Magnum Engineering (now IMEG), Jacksonville, Fla.

Precast Concrete Components: 547 total–precast concrete components, including 5078 ft² of hollow-core and 3665 yd3 of load-bearing walls. There were 10 different precast concrete components in total, including double tees, hollow-core slabs and solid slabs for roofs, columns, spandrels, beams, inverted T-beams, 12-in. walls including 12-in. shear walls, 32-in. column walls, and stairs. The largest precast concrete component was 14 ft wide and weighed just over 71,000 lb.

Jacksonville-based contractor Haskell chose prefabricated concrete for the new pavilion to accommodate an aggressive construction schedule on an extremely tight jobsite. Furthermore, with two existing hospital buildings adjacent to the building site, the hospital needed to remain accessible and operational throughout construction.

Another challenge was the building’s large cutouts on the ground-level exterior walls. Randy Phillips, director of structural systems for Jacksonville-based GATE Precast, says there weren’t a lot of options for shear walls in the building’s interior, so exterior walls had to provide for lateral shear to accommodate the site’s Category IV risk profile and Exposure D for wind. Phillips says GATE also had to design pilasters into the inside of the exterior wall panels to handle the floor loads due to the large openings in the shear walls on the ground floor.

With load-bearing walls and columns as well as flat slabs, double tees, and hollow-core flooring components that were all manufactured at GATE Precast’s facility in Jacksonville, the construction team was able to ensure quality control and minimize potential issues that could arise from on-site concrete pouring.

The flexibility of precast concrete construction also allows for potential future vertical expansion of the pavilion. Herman notes that while mechanical systems currently occupy the fourth floor of the building, that floor is essentially enclosed with precast concrete panels and window openings. “It provides a buffer space to build vertically and not impact patients below,” she says.

Phillips says Jacksonville-based architectural firm Gresham Smith had to design the fourth floor to potentially accommodate patient live loads should the hospital expand vertically and add more patient rooms. The building was, in fact, designed to potentially accommodate four additional floors. “So we had to provide for reaction loads for foundation design as if the hospital was eight stories,” Phillips explains.

That created a challenge for how to connect all those future walls. Phillips says the shear walls used NMB splice sleeves that were cast into the panels for future connections, while all of the remaining walls and columns had grout tubes cast into them to allow new precast concrete wall panels to be stacked and attached on top of existing exterior walls.

GATE also manufactured precast concrete for a connector wing that attached to the existing hospital. “However, we couldn’t design for a rigid connection between the new precast concrete and the existing hospital wall, so we had to design it with a slide bearing connection that allowed for an expansion joint between existing and new construction,” Phillips says.

The construction team took only 10 weeks to set 547 prefabricated concrete components and enclose the 58,000-ft² facility. GATE Precast achieved some efficiencies from repetition with six to eight different panel types with window layouts that could be repeated around the building. Also, many of the precast concrete panels feature embedded thin brick that was cast into the panels at the plant.

“The pavilion complements existing architecture,” Herman says. “The older [hospital] structure is brick masonry.” Meanwhile the new pavilion offers a combination of architectural precast concrete and brick façade. “It looks like it belongs there, while also being more modern,” Herman adds.

Parking is on the first level with hospital services starting on the second floor. The design and construction teams were mindful of past flooding events and wanted to ensure patient care would not be impacted in the event of future flood events. Herman says the new pavilion is about 12 ft off the ground, meeting the requirements for a 500-year flood event.

Total–precast concrete construction streamlined the building process, reduced the number of trades required on-site, and minimized disruptions on a jobsite with limited laydown areas for products and installation.

When Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside hospital needed to expand and consolidate services for cardiac patients, total–precast concrete provided an all-in-one solution on a tight timeline and options for future growth. Key benefits of precast concrete construction of the Delores Barr Weaver Pavilion included:

The largest Lutheran church in Sioux Falls, S.Dak., Peace Lutheran Church, has provided a space for worship and community since the 1960s. But because of its growing congregation, the church needed a better gathering space to accommodate the inflow and outflow of members between two Sunday services as well as an activity space to house a gym, family activities, and musical rehearsal space and classrooms.

“We’ve helped out Peace Lutheran Church several times,” says Chase Kramer, director of design for Sioux Falls-based TSP Inc., the project’s architect and engineer. “The church wanted a master plan due to growth.” TSP won the master planning project in 2020, and out of that plan, the family activity center addition, completed in 2024, became the top priority.

“The family activity center was where we really looked at different [construction] options—stick-built, steel, and precast concrete,” Kramer says. One of the church’s building committee members, Joe Bunkers, president of Sioux Falls precast concrete producer Gage Brothers, planted the idea of a precast concrete structure. In the end, the committee decided to use precast concrete for the gym portion of the family activity center addition and steel frame for the future music center.

For the gym, precast concrete provides both structure and façade, consisting of precast concrete wall panels and double tees. The key reason the team chose precast concrete was for its constructability and to accommodate an accelerated building schedule. “We know precast concrete works well for gym spaces,” says Kramer. “It makes for efficient construction and quick delivery. You get it to the site, and it goes up really fast.”

“Precast concrete is almost always the structure of choice in this area,” adds Bunkers. “It offers really good insulation, goes up quickly, and is extremely durable inside and outside.”

Precast concrete insulated structural panels with architectural finish make up the activity center’s walls. “They’re doing the brunt work of bearing double tees,” says Kramer. “There are no beams supporting the system.” Precast concrete hollow-core slabs supported by a steel structure make up the space between the existing church structure and the new two-story family activity center.

The precast concrete wall panels run all the way from the foundation to the roof. The largest wall panels are 40 ft tall with a width of 12 ft, weighing in at over 50,000 lb.

The canopy roof of the activity center consists of metal panels supported by precast concrete double tees that are exposed on the inside and run through the wall panels to create the architectural feature of an overhang. The orange and dark gray sandblasted finish matches the existing church with its brick facing and a heavy band of dark gray exterior insulation and finish system above.

PCI-Certified Precast Concrete Erector: Gil Haugan Construction, Sioux Falls, S.Dak.

Precast Concrete Components: 89 pieces totaling 21,568 ft², including 11 double tees, 41 hollow-core slabs, and 37 insulated wall panels

The design team had originally wanted the orange color of the structure to be thin brick to match the church. This proved too costly, however, so they settled on an etched orange finish for the precast concrete instead, along with polished bands of gray between the windows to give the structure an aluminum framing appearance. The orange precast concrete also provides the architectural feature of a recessed cross at the new church entrance.

Precast concrete construction did create a few complexities, however. The master plan TSP had designed called for ribbon windows at the top of the gym structure. “Architects love continuous windows,” says Bunkers. “It’s a neat aesthetic, but it’s hard to pull off on a load bearing wall.”

So, to maintain the look of ribbon windows, TSP alternated windows with precast concrete with a dark and shiny finish that would blend with the windows to create the illusion of glass coming together at the corners of the building.

The design and building teams also had to coordinate to allow for future additions on the north side of the activity center, including a new entry that would connect to a future fellowship hall and classroom space. “We had to plan for blockouts in the walls to allow for new openings for future walkways,” explains Kramer. “We even accommodated for future roof drains.”

Gage Brothers fabricated all the precast concrete components for the project in about two weeks, and erection took another two weeks.

“Cost is always a factor for a community job, and there’s always an end date when you want to open, but committees are slow,” Bunkers says. “Precast concrete construction gave us the ability to pick up speed and make up time in the schedule.” Churches typically don’t have a lot of extra money for maintenance, which also makes precast concrete an ideal building material. “And it makes a really good shelter for tornadoes, offering a safe space no matter what Mother Nature brings.”

Precast concrete is known worldwide as a versatile material capable of bringing nearly any project to life. From hospitals to air traffic control towers, high-rise buildings, and beyond, it’s resilient, durable, and sustainable in every application. But despite all its advantages, the true power in precast concrete lies in its ability to bring people together.

Such is the case at South Dakota State University (SDSU) in Brookings, S.Dak., where university officials sought to combine two of the school’s largest agriculture majors into a consolidated program. Previously, students studying agricultural and biosystems engineering and agronomy, horticulture, and plant science were separated by several blocks on campus.

University officials launched SDSU’s Precision Agriculture program—the first in the United States—to bring these students together not only in their studies, but in their physical location as well. The resulting structure, the 130,000-ft2 Raven Precision Agriculture Center, is a hub for research and hands-on learning that better connects the campus thanks in large part to precast concrete.

Early conversations surrounding the cutting-edge facility kicked off in 2015. Precast concrete was incorporated into the design due to the need for high head clearance on the building’s south side, According to Colin Gaalswyk, senior mechanical engineer at SDSU, the plan was for high- and mid-bay spaces to house large agricultural equipment such as combines and tractors. These spaces also needed to be tall enough to support bridge cranes.

Shawn Crowley, director of higher education for EAPC Architects Engineers, agrees with Gaalswyk, adding that the project team sought to make the walls on the south end of the Raven Precision Agriculture Center double as both a structure and durable surface. “Precast concrete offered a solid base for the south end of the building,” he says. “We could use load-bearing precast concrete and have long-span roof structures without the need for extra steel or building a separate wall.”

EAPC and contractor McCownGordon partnered with Gage Brothers of Sioux Falls, S.Dak., to manufacture the precast concrete for the project. Gage Brothers produced 42 interior structural load-bearing gray wall panels totaling more than 1300 ft for the facility. For the exterior, Gage Brothers manufactured 36 3-in. XPS load-bearing structural insulated precast concrete wall panels featuring a thin-brick finish. These panels represented 1221 ft with a maximum panel weight of nearly 52,000 lb.

From the beginning of the project, substantial collaboration was necessary. The work leveraged a high level of building information modeling (BIM) coordination, including weekly meetings between the precast concrete producer and the contractor. “Our precast process performs best when BIM coordination starts early,” says Ann Hill, business development manager for Gage Brothers. “With a well-organized model shared from the lead design team, our team was able to align grids, levels, and base points, setting the stage for accurate modeling across all trades.”

Teamwork was also critical to ensuring the facility’s aesthetics matched SDSU’s needs. The campus relies heavily on masonry in the design of its buildings, a common motif for higher education.

“With our campus design standards, we predominantly use brick on all our facilities,” Gaalswyk says. “As such, that was a major requirement for this building, especially since the facility sits on a prominent corner of campus.”

The building’s high visibility meant that it needed to not only blend with nearby structures but also present itself as a modern, forward-thinking facility capable of projecting the same innovation and interconnectedness as the country’s first Precision Agriculture program.

Most of the building was designed to be constructed with concrete masonry units and face brick. However, for the south end of the structure, which would contain the high- and mid-bay spaces, precast concrete was the material of choice.

This decision necessitated a thin-brick application for the precast concrete panels. The thin brick had to match the structure’s face brick to ensure a consistent appearance along with a seamless transition where the two types of brick met.

According to Crowley, when the project team initially compared face-brick and thin-brick samples on-site, there was a distinct difference between the two. To solve this, he traveled with a McCownGordon project manager to Endicott Clay Products’ plant in Nebraska to modify the thin-brick blend. Once an appropriate selection was made, the two brick types were a better match, resulting in a cohesive aesthetic across the facility’s façade.

Using precast concrete brought myriad benefits to the project. The face brick and thin brick blended well through the collaborative efforts of the team, but the building also achieved a modern look via the use of other materials, including glass and metal panels.

“The main advantage for precast concrete is reducing the construction schedule for the contractor and getting the building completed sooner,” Gaalswyk said. “If we had that many lineal feet to erect with large masonry block, it would have probably been another two to three months for the masonry contractor to finish.”

“With CMU [concrete masonry units], you’re putting up each block individually,” Crowley added. “You’re grouting it, you’re adding rebar—a bunch of different steps that just makes things take longer. With precast, everything is done off-site, then you simply bring it in and stand it up.”

Numerous environmentally friendly features were also made possible thanks to precast concrete. The Raven Precision Agriculture Center earned a LEED silver certification with features such as a 50-kW photovoltaic array, white reflective roofing, and an exhaust heat recovery system that all work cohesively with the precast concrete enclosure.

Beyond these benefits, the building further enhances the SDSU community bringing faculty and students together, including those outside of the newly formed Precision Agriculture program. Several other departments use the spaces in the building, including the many collaboration spaces housed within—a reflection of how the Raven Precision Agriculture Center was designed and ultimately constructed.

“By taking advantage of the inherent speed of construction, reduced maintenance, and long lifespan precast concrete provides, SDSU can further their mission by adding new spaces and programming while spending less on maintenance and replacement,” says Joe Bunkers, Gage Brothers president. “In the case of the Raven Precision Agriculture Center, SDSU will teach the next generation of farmers how to better manage farming operations to literally help feed the world.”

The Raven Precision Agriculture Center stands as a symbol of SDSU’s dedication to transforming the way the agriculture field will operate in the future. Those who are learning inside the space will become the field’s leaders of tomorrow, ultimately transforming local communities through their work. On the strength, durability, and sustainability of precast concrete, the facility stands as a testament to what’s possible at the intersection of collaboration and innovation.

Architect: Clark & Enersen, Lincoln, Neb.; EAPC Architects Engineers, Sioux Falls, S.Dak.

Engineer: Clark Engineering (Civil Engineering – Aberdeen, S.Dak.; Structural Engineering – Sioux Falls, S.Dak.)

Precast Concrete Components: 36 load-bearing structural insulated wall panels (thin-brick finish), 42 interior structural load-bearing wall panels

In 2018, the town of Plainfield, Ind., was well into planning for a downtown redevelopment and was looking for a new home for their town hall and civic center. “They did not have a designated performing arts center, just a movie-style theater downtown that had fallen into disrepair,” says Zachary Hilleson, senior associate at the Indianapolis office of RATIO Design.

The town decided to combine needs into a single new structure that would accommodate daytime, evening, and weekend use. “It’s really a bifurcated building, meaning half government center and half arts center,” Hilleson says. “So we had to align project needs with the government as well as the arts side.”

The new government center was the first priority and was completed in 2022. To build the adjoining arts center, with its 600-seat theater, the client wanted a streamlined construction process. Precast concrete quickly rose to the top of the list as the ideal construction material.

The design team at RATIO considered brick, glass, metal panels, and limestone for the exterior. “But when we began to look at what would surround the auditorium, we knew we needed a structure that could vault 50 to 80 feet above finished street level,” Hilleson adds. “We knew precast concrete would meet structural, fire rating, and acoustical performance requirements.”

Precast concrete serves as both structure and façade for the Plainfield Performing Arts Center. While the government center features steel-frame wall construction with a metal stud frame infill and insulated brick veneer, the performing arts center is mainly constructed of precast concrete components to address the structural needs of the auditorium, fly tower above the stage, and the equipment dock.

“Precast concrete was the core shell of the performing arts center,” says Corey Greika, vice president and general manager of Coreslab Structures (INDIANAPOLIS) Inc. “The precast concrete wall panels performed a variety of duties. Structurally, they are load bearing for floor and roof framing. They are the shear walls for the building. And they create the big proscenium opening for the stage.”

Precast concrete also enabled a faster construction timeline because the town hall portion of the building was completed first and was occupied by employees while the performing arts center was under construction. “During the second half of the project, you had people working and living around a construction site,” says Hilleson. “Precast concrete was an advantage there. Building components off-site [allowed] the mass of the building to go up very quickly.”

There was no place for laydown when erecting the performing arts center because of the already-constructed government building. The construction team therefore had to work out different locations for the crane, which was actually located inside the building footprint to erect the fly loft for the theater. “All the precast concrete was erected straight off the truck,” says Greika.

Another advantage of precast concrete was having panels that served as structure, insulation, and architectural façade. The precast concrete panel walls are 13 in. thick, including 3 in. of insulation. The precast concrete walls also provide necessary acoustic separation, given that the performing arts center is adjacent to a national highway and close to an airport.

“We also knew we needed a firewall separating the two sides of the building,” says Hilleson. “One edge of the auditorium box is also a firewall.” Precast concrete readily met those separation of occupancy requirements.

To complement the historic feel of downtown Plainfield with its mostly brick architecture, the team knew they had to create a brick façade for the combined government building and arts center. The same brick used for stud framing, Belden Commodore Full Range Velour, serves as brick facing on the precast concrete wall panels. “You can’t tell the difference between the two,” says Hilleson. Concrete was poured over the brick in the molds at the factory.

RATIO and Coreslab coordinated on the size of the wall panels based on what was possible to transport. “We initially wanted solid precast panels all the way to the top of the arts center at 80 feet,” Hilleson says. “But you can’t transport an 80-foot piece of precast concrete.” So the team had to determine a dividing line for the wall panels and address connecting precast concrete to precast concrete. “We needed to make sure it wouldn’t interrupt aesthetics,” he adds.

The tallest panels are 50 ft high and just under 10 ft wide. The team used two panels, one stacked on top of the other, to achieve the 80-ft height required for the auditorium flyover. The remainder of the auditorium is one panel high with a 5-in. decorative precast concrete component at the top.

Size: 40,000 ft2 for the performing arts center; 100,000 ft2 including the government center

PCI-Certified Precast Concrete Producer: Coreslab Structures, (INDIANAPOLIS) Inc.

Precast Concrete Components: 145 components, including 98 13-in.-thick insulated load-bearing panels with thin brick, 7 8-in.-thick solid walls with thin brick, 38 5-in.-thick pieces at the parapet, and 2 20-in. square columns

The individual panels are separated by a vertical precast concrete pinstripe that approximates the look of the actual limestone around the base of the building. Those vertical pinstripes hold a centered joint, but there is also another joint halfway between the pinstripes.

Because the precast concrete panels provided a self-supporting wall, Coreslab cast steel embeds directly into the walls to attach them to the structure of the roof. The roof load thus transfers directly to the foundation, eliminating the need for a separate steel structure inside the precast concrete.

Precast concrete also helped address the structural challenge of all the openings in the theater box. “You need an opening in the frame around the stage,” Hilleson says. “You also have a huge opening at the dock where you bring scenes in.” Therefore, the design team had to consider how to make the precast concrete components remain structural without taking too much structural capacity out of the panels and allow for transfer of gravity loads to the walls.

The project included 145 precast concrete components with a total erection duration of four weeks spread out over three mobilizations. “Precast concrete gave us the ability to integrate so much—structure, insulation, electrical, and architectural,” Greika says.

A northern suburb of Indianapolis, the city of Fishers, Ind., has been working over the past decade to become a destination in its own right. The city recently redeveloped their downtown main street, added new parking structures, many mixed-use developments, a new police station, and a municipal arts center.

“We’ve been very involved in their redevelopment over the last 10 years,” says Corey Greika, vice president and general manager of Coreslab Structures (INDIANAPOLIS) Inc. “They’ve used precast concrete in a variety of ways—and basically employed every type of precast concrete available.”

Recently the city found another opportunity to enhance its downtown when the Indy Fuel, a professional hockey team located at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, was seeking a new home. The Indy Fuel agreed to move into the new event center if the city of Fishers would, build it. So in 2023, construction began.

The city called upon Coreslab yet again, this time to build a state-of-the-art seating bowl for the new Fishers Event Center, one that would accommodate not just the fans of hockey games but also other athletic tournaments as well as concerts. “Precast concrete was a better option than steel as far as acoustics, structural resilience, and fire ratings go,” says Greika.

The city needed the seating bowl, which is designed to seat 7500 people, to be flexible and also wanted it to mimic the sight lines used at the downtown Indianapolis home of the Pacers. Coreslab’s Indianapolis plant was involved in that project in 1995.

“Precast concrete was fast,” Greika explains. “The city of Fishers was able to award the seating bowl on a design-build contract.” Coreslab worked with the structural steel contractor to meet an accelerated building schedule that would have the entire event venue substantially built by the end of 2024.

With the aggressive construction schedule, precast concrete had to be erected at night, while workers erected steel during the day. The erection team used a hidden pin connection to attach the precast concrete components to the steel frame. Coreslab cast a sleeve in the precast concrete that fit over the steel studs and then grouted that pocket. “It’s a fast, clean connection,” Greika explains.

It took only six weeks to erect all the precast concrete, with in-factory fabrication taking about four months. Coreslab had only seven to eight months to design and manufacture the precast concrete components and began fabricating in September. Precast concrete erection started in December 2023 and was completed in March.

The seating bowl consists of precast concrete single and double risers, precast concrete stair units, and precast concrete wall panels at stairs and overbuilds for camera wells on top of precast concrete seating systems.

Coreslab used three different forms to fabricate the seating units. The typical span of the riser units was 30 ft. The seating bowl features Coreslab’s structural gray concrete with form finish bottoms and trowel top finishes to ensure both durability and a sleek aesthetic.

“Precast concrete is durable, easy to clean, fire resistant, and offers good sound attenuation,” Greika says. “It’s a highly used product for this type of application.”

The Fishers Event Center had its grand opening in November 2024 and has become a game changer for the development of Fishers’ entertainment scene. Home to the Indy Fuel as well as professional volleyball team the Indy Ignite, the event center also hosts a variety of concerts and events. The arena’s precast concrete seating bowl showcases the strength, efficiency, and precision of precast concrete in modern sports architecture that has to meet standards of design versatility to accommodate both high-impact sports as well as large-scale concerts.

“We have more projects coming in Fishers,” says Greika. “The city has become much bigger, and they’ve done a lot of it with precast concrete.”

PCI-Certified Precast Concrete Producer: Coreslab Structures (INDIANAPOLIS) Inc.

Precast Concrete Components: 429 pieces equaling 45,868 ft² and including 15 stair units, 97 single risers, 247 double risers, 2 flat slabs, and 68 wall panels

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