Grand Living at Tower Place utilized precast concrete foundation walls. This five-story, 174-unit senior living community also has restaurants, a salon, spa, fitness center, performance theater, library, club room, and other multi-use spaces in the building.
Grand Living at Tower Place: West Des Moines, IA
When Ryan Companies and Grand Living partnered to create Grand Living at Tower Place in West Des Moines, Iowa, they knew schedule was important. So while Ryan Companies looked in to cast-in-place concrete for foundations, CMU blocks for the elevator shafts, and a precast concrete foundation system - it quickly became clear that precast was the way to go for the best schedule.
In addition to using precast concrete for the foundation and elevator shafts, precast concrete beams, columns, and hollowcore were also used for the underground garage. Precast components included 20,547 square feet of hollowcore, 51 beams, 26 columns, 85 wall panels, and 1,730 square feet of solid slabs.
Project Manager Ryan Pigneri said his team found several benefits using precast foundation walls, including “schedule and money savings, as it goes up at a faster rate than CIP.”
Additionally, the team did find financial savings using precast foundation walls instead of cast-in-place. For CMU versus precast, the savings were in schedule. Pigneri was particularly pleased with the BIM modeling process and value engineering options provided for this project, as well as the accommodation of some last-minute structural changes. The use of precast components allowed the project to achieve the structural requirements while also maintaining budget.
”Installation went according to plan, efficient, and organized,” he said.
Pigneri said he would use precast concrete walls again on senior living projects, as well as other types of projects in the future. And he learned a few things along the way. For example, some of the walls were for area well air intakes. Lifting lugs were located at the top of the panels, which have an exposed finished condition. In the future, he might dress that up a bit more.
How did precast concrete make this project run smoothly?
”Time, money, and structural integrity,” Pigneri said.
Project Team
General Contractor: Ryan Companies
Architect: Ryan Companies
EOR: IMEG Corp.